


Trying

by rugbytackler



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: AU, Get Together, M/M, The Curtain Call, The Kliq - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-08-05 10:38:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 52,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16366274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rugbytackler/pseuds/rugbytackler
Summary: After the Curtain Call at Madison Square Gardens in 1996, Hunter is fired from the WWF. How will that affect Shawn and their relationship?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was intrigued about what would have happened if Hunter had been fired by Vince after the MSG incident, instead of just taking shit for the next year or so. Hence this story was born. It's AU so I've taken some leeway with regards to the extent of Shawn's substance abuse during the 90s.

As soon as Hunter got the call that Vince wanted to see him when they entered the arena, he knew. Shawn shot him a quizzical look but Hunter waved him away.

“I'll see you in the locker room.”

Shawn looked like he wanted to say something but Hunter was already grabbing his bag and turning back down the hall, shooting him a grin over his shoulder.

Inside his office, Vince was apologetic but firm.

“The execs didn't like it, the board didn't like it, even with the fan reaction. They're worried you killed the business.”

Hunter kept quiet as he sat opposite him.

“I don't want to lose you, I know talent when I see it and I think you've got it. But I've got to be seen as doing something. Kevin and Scott have already gone, I can't lose Shawn too. It's got to be you. I'm sorry, Hunter, I have to let you go.”

Hunter's eyes closed for a brief moment, his head dropping before nodding.

“I get it.”

Vince sighed heavily. “It's not something I want to do, but...” he trailed off.

“I know. Someone has to take the fall.” He shrugged, looking up at him. “I'm devastated, you know I am, Vince.”

“If I can put a good word in for you anywhere, you let me know,” Vince said.

Hunter managed a wan smile. “Thanks. I mean that, for everything. For giving me a chance. I've had the time of my life,” he stood, not wanting to prolong the moment. “I'm gonna say bye to Shawn and I'll head out.”

“You got transport?” Vince asked.

“Yeah, not too far from home here.”

Vince rose from his chair and reached out, shaking his hand.

“If the opportunity arises, if I can come back...” Hunter trailed off.

“I'll give you a call,” Vince promised him.

“Thanks.”

~

Out in the hall, his shoulders slumped. Yes, they'd gone further than they meant to last night and he had worried that there would be repercussions but he hadn't honestly believed it would go this far. He was building something here, he was loving his work, loving the fans, loving the character he was getting to – he could feel that it was almost there. He'd almost found the right one to really click with. And now, having to start all over again somewhere else? He was bumped back down to Earth. And having to say goodbye to Shawn, when there was something there, something that was just starting, where it could really lead somewhere?

He shook his head and turned to head to the locker rooms. His feet felt leaden and he had to force himself to walk down the hall. Pulling on a mask was tough, trying to act like there was nothing out of the ordinary, to stay strong. He just needed to say goodbye to Shawn and then he could head back to his parents for a few days to figure out what the hell he was going to do now. He just had to get through the hardest part.

~

Shawn looked up as the door opened and Hunter came through. He frowned at his expression and paused in riffling through his bag.

“Okay?”

Hunter shrugged, heaving a deep breath before just saying it. “I've been let go.”

“What?” Shawn tilted his head at Hunter, trying to find the joke. “You're kidding.”

Hunter shook his head, dropping his bag to the floor. “No. Vince just told me. Someone had to take the blame for last night; Kev and Scott can't be touched, you're one of the top guys, it's gotta be me.”

“But can't he just fine you or something? Why is he letting you go? You're one of his rising stars! You've got the talent, we all know it.”

“Not enough, apparently.”

Shawn stood, running his hand through his hair. “So you're just leaving? Let me talk to Vince, I'll convince him otherwise.”

“It's not him; he's getting pressure from the execs, the board. He's gotta be seen to be taking action and that action is letting me go apparently.”

“I'll speak to him, I'll sort it out.”

“I don't think it'll change anything. Shawn, he was apologetic but pretty firm. I'm fired.”

“So you're just leaving?”

“Well I don't have much choice!” Hunter snapped at him, sitting heavily down on the bench. “What am I supposed to do, Shawn? Refuse to go? Cause a scene and get thrown out? Ruin my chances of maybe getting to come back here one day?” He kicked at his bag angrily and slumped down, head in his hands.

“You can't just leave me!” Shawn told him bitterly.

“You think I want to?”

“Well you're not putting up much of a fight,” Shawn shot back at him, standing with his back to the wall and refusing to fully look at Hunter.

“Shawn, I don't understand, what do you want from me? What are you expecting me to do here? I can't go against Vince, I won't ruin any chance of maybe getting to come back here in the future. I won't do that. So really, what do you want from me?”

The distance between them seemed too big. Shawn seemed miles away, untouchable and angry, and Hunter didn't know how to bridge the gap, his own frustrations building.

“I want you to stay!”

“And so do I!” Hunter shot up from the bench, arms stretched to the side. “You really think I want to leave? Really?”

Shawn was quiet for a moment, glancing over at him.

“Shawn, there's nothing I can do right now. Think about it, I've got no leverage here yet. I'm still new, I'm still expendable. Sure, Vince likes me and thinks I've got the talent, but I've not convinced everyone else yet. I'm not at your standard, not at your status,” he took a step closer, “I've got nothing left at the moment. All I can do is take my punishment and try to get back here.”

“I don't want you to leave me,” Shawn said quietly, and Hunter's stomach clenched.

This was skirting dangerously close to a conversation that they never had in the building. This was kept for veiled references in hotel rooms and car journeys between the two of them, nothing confirmed, nothing spoken out loud just yet. He couldn't let it spill over here and risk Shawn's standing.

“I think you'll survive here without me, you're The Showstopper,” he gave him a small smile, pleading with him to understand.

Shawn stared at him for a minute, and Hunter waited, hoping. The silence stretched until Shawn nodded.

“Yeah, the Showstopper. I don't need a sidekick.”

Hunter huffed out a laugh. “Exactly.”

“So this is it?” Shawn asked.

“For the moment. Listen, I'm going to head back to my parents, figure out my next move.” He stooped to root through his bag for a moment, coming up with a scrap of paper and a pen. “I'll watch you, of course, but if you want to, give me a call. I'll let you know my plans, we can... I don't know... figure something out,” he scribbled down his parents’ phone number and held it out to Shawn. “Is that okay?”

Shawn took it, looking down at Hunter's messy handwriting.

“Yeah, of course. I'll call you, let you know where I'm staying,” he said, folding up the slip of paper and zipping it into the pocket of his jacket. “So I guess this is goodbye?”

“Just for the moment,” Hunter told him, picking up his bag again. “Shawn, I don't want to go. I don't want to leave.”

Shawn nodded. “I know.” He moved and pulled Hunter into a hug, wrapping his arms around him and holding on tight for a moment. Hunter gripped him back for a fleeting moment before Shawn moved away.

“I'll see you soon,” Hunter told him seriously, and he waited until Shawn nodded before leaving the room.

~

It was easy to change his airline ticket and fly back home instead of to the next town.

It was harder to explain to his parents what had happened and that he would need to move back home again for a short time.

It was hardest of all to watch RAW on the television and see Shawn out there, alone. To know that Shawn would be going backstage to no one in the locker room. To know that Hunter wouldn't be driving him back from the arena. He felt a sudden stab of guilt that he'd let Shawn down, that his designated driver wouldn't be there for him any more. He sat and stared blankly at the television, where the adverts had started after the show.

Down the hall, he heard the phone ring and his mom answer, her speech muffled for a few moments before she called out for him. He opened the door to her holding out the handset to him.

“It's Shawn,” she explained.

He took the handset and nodded. “Thanks.”

She turned back down the hall to the living room, and Hunter waited there a moment before turning back to his room.

“Hello?”

“Hunter, it's me.”

Something inside Hunter relaxed as Shawn's voice came through the receiver.

“Hey,” he replied, settling back on his bed. “I just finished watching the show, good match.”

“Yeah, it wasn't bad. Got a few good slaps in,” Shawn said, and Hunter could hear him moving around in the background.

“Looked like that kick from the top rope almost got you in the eye,” Hunter said and Shawn snorted.

“Yeah, I had to dodge the fucker. Took it too hard off the rope.” Hunter could almost feel Shawn's shrug through the phone. “Did you get home okay?”

“Yeah, it was fine. My folks were a bit surprised but they're taking it okay. You good?”

“I got in a fight with Vince,” Shawn said and Hunter started upright.

“What?”

“I got in a fight with Vince,” Shawn repeated and Hunter couldn't actually form words for a second.

“Shawn-”

“No, listen, I think he's making a huge mistake letting you go. He knows it too, he yelled back at me but he didn't say I was wrong. I was trying to make him change his mind.”

“Shawn, you didn't-”

“I did. You're my friend. You were pretty much the only friend I had left here, I know you would have done the same thing for me if it had happened the other way around.”

“Of course I would,” Hunter replied almost instantly and Shawn laughed.

“So how is it being back home?”

“Weird, I feel like I'm back being a teenager again.”

“Are you sitting in the hall, hoping your parents aren't listening in?”

“Thankfully, my folks invested in handsets, so I'm not in the closet right now.”

There was a pause, then Shawn snorted in laughter and Hunter flushed.

“Shawn-”

“Good to know you're not in the closet any more,” Shawn told him, and Hunter could hear the grin in his voice. “Did I call too late? Is it past your curfew?”

“Haha,” Hunter replied dryly. “You are a comedian. Can we move on?”

“No, this is comedy gold,” Shawn told him and Hunter couldn't help but laugh.

“Okay, okay, you can continue making fun of me.”

“I wasn't asking permission,” Shawn said. “But being serious, have you thought about what you're going to do?”

Hunter sighed. “I'm not sure. I'm gonna call Kev, see if I can get a meeting with WCW.”

“They're sure to take you,” Shawn said.

“I don't know; I turned down their offer of a better contract last time. I don't think Ted or Eric will be very sympathetic to my cause.”

“Get Kev on your side; him and Scott, they'll help. They're big names over there.”

“Yeah, I'm gonna phone him in the morning. I need to get back out there, I need to keep wrestling.”

“I know, I get it,” Shawn said, and Hunter knew he did. “If I can help-”

“You're helping just by talking to me,” Hunter told him. “By being here for me.”

“I can keep doing that.”

“Vince said he'd put in a good word for me as well,” Hunter said.

“Yeah, he mentioned that in the middle of all the yelling,” Shawn mused, and Hunter laughed.

“Seriously, thanks for calling Shawn. I know you're usually busy after the show.”

“Not the same when there's no one to go out with,” Shawn said. “But it's fine. Maybe it's better. I might actually get a good night's sleep.”

“But thank you, for calling me. Honestly, I'm really grateful,” Hunter told him, sincerely.

“Hunter, of course. I'll phone when I can. I'll... I don't know, try and let you know where I'm staying if you need to contact me.”

“Yeah?” Hunter scrunched his face up at how hopeful he sounded, but Shawn was quick to reply.

“Yeah. And, you know, if you need a place to crash, get away from the parents, you can come stay with me.”

“In Texas?” Hunter asked.

“It's not as bad as you make it sound,” Shawn told him, affronted.

“No, it's worse.” Hunter replied bluntly, and Shawn swore at him down the line.

“Well if you can lower yourself to come to Texas, you've got a place to stay.”

They hung up not long after that, even though Shawn reassured Hunter that it would be payback for Vince for shouting at him earlier in the day.

Shawn had insisted once more before the call ended that Hunter needed to come and stay with him, and as Hunter lay in his bed that night, the offer ran through his mind. Time with Shawn, time with Shawn in his home. A strange feeling lodged itself inside his chest and he found it difficult to fall asleep as he imagined what that would be like.

~

The next few days were busy; Hunter called Nash the next morning who had heard the news and had been waiting for him to call. He sympathised with him for a few moments before they got down to the business of coming to wrestle for WCW. He promised he would speak to Bischoff, put in a good word for Hunter and try to angle for him joining him and Razor.

Hunter called WCW himself, after psyching himself up in the gym beforehand. It was a little humiliating, which he had expected it to be, especially after he had told Eric that he could earn more and be bigger in WWF, but he sucked it up, took the taunting and agreed to the arranged meeting in three weeks time. He knew Eric was making him wait, making him squirm for jumping ship in the first place. He knew Eric had the upper hand here, and that the meeting would be painful but if he wanted to keep his profile up, if he wanted that chance of making WWF see how great he could be, how much they would want him back, he'd do just about anything to get there.

The gym kept him busy, helped take out some of his frustrations and anger, and he could lose hours there, helping pass the time.

Shawn phoned him after every show; sometimes he was sober, sometimes he'd had a beer with a couple of the boys; it didn't matter as he still called Hunter. His mother had moved the extension phone into his room, telling him if the phone rang after 9pm he could answer it himself as it was most likely Shawn. Hunter wondered if he called Nash and Razor as well but didn't dare ask.

Shawn was offended on Hunter's behalf by Bischoff making him wait three weeks.

“What a jumped up little shit,” he said to Hunter one evening, from a hotel room somewhere in Ohio. There was the sound of a beer bottle being placed down on a table. “Seriously, I can't believe he's making you wait three weeks.”

“Well, only two now, but I get it Shawn. He's showing his power; I knew he was going to do something. I've just gotta go with it and hope he's still interested in signing me.”

“He wouldn't take the meeting with you if he wasn't interested. Did you speak to Vince?”

“Yeah, he said he'd get in contact with Bischoff for me.”

“So what are you doing for the next two weeks?” Shawn asked.

“Not a lot; going to the gym and trying to keep myself busy.”

“You should come and visit me,” Shawn declared.

“I should?”

“Yes, this week. I finish up touring tomorrow and I'm heading back to Texas for 4 days; come and meet me.”

“Shawn-”

“No, I'm serious. You've just said you're not doing much, we can hit the gym together and the ring – make sure you haven't forgotten how to wrestle.”

“Thanks,” Hunter interjected and Shawn laughed.

“Come on, I'll pay for your airfare if you want.” He paused and Hunter waited. “It would be nice to see a friendly face.”

Hunter frowned. “Is everything okay?”

Shawn sighed heavily. “It's fine, it's just, with you and Kev and Razor gone, it's not the same. I miss hanging out with you all.”

“Okay, okay, I'll come down but I can buy my own plane ticket, I'm not that destitute. Unlike some people, I do know how to save money.”  
They arranged the details the next day, once Hunter had had a chance to look at flights; it ended up that he arrived into San Antonio airport about an hour before Shawn was due to land, but it was easy enough to find somewhere to sit and watch as all the different passengers passed by him. Shawn's plane landed on time and Shawn was walking through from Arrivals soon after, one bag over his shoulder and another rolling along behind him. He scanned the crowd, looking for Hunter, who stood and waved until Shawn saw him.

He headed in Hunter's direction and Hunter grinned; it was so good to see him in person again. The week and a half they'd been apart was the longest they'd gone without seeing each since Hunter had joined WWF. Shawn dropped his bags as he reached Hunter and Hunter stepped into the waiting hug. He pulled Shawn close and felt the tension in his shoulders release. He was painfully aware of the people passing around them however, so it wasn't long before he was patting Shawn's shoulder and stepping back a little.

“It's good to see you, man,” Hunter told him, holding Shawn at arms length so he could get a good look at him.

Shawn grinned, spreading his arms wide. “Everyone misses the Heartbreak Kid!”

“You're one of a kind,” Hunter said, reaching to pick up his own bag.

“I'm taking that as a compliment,” Shawn told him, gathering his own bags and heading for the exit. “Come on, my car's in the lot.”

Hunter followed after him, stepping into the blistering Texan heat, and blinking against the sun.

“You east coast boys don't know how to handle a bit of warmth,” Shawn threw over his shoulder at Hunter, pulling his sunglasses down off his head and smiling cheekily.

“No, we can deal with normal heat, but this is like walking on the surface of the sun,” Hunter retorted, rooting in his bag for his own sunglasses.

“Man up, Hunts,” Shawn said, laughing as Hunter flipped him off in reply.

They located Shawn's car and loaded up their gear before settling into the front. Shawn reached across and grabbed Hunter's shoulder.

“Thanks for coming. It's really good to see you again.”

Hunter clasped his hand and tilted his head at him, frowning just a little. “You know I'd come, whenever you ask. Even if it is in Texas. You sure everything's okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, it's all good now you're here. Let's go.”

Hunter let him retreat a little, let Shawn start the car and drive them out of the airport. It wouldn't be any use pushing; Shawn would talk when he wanted to. Hunter was just glad to be back in his company again.

For all the time they spent together, Hunter hadn't actually ever visited Shawn's house before. He'd heard all about the ranch, and they'd all taken turns discussing how much of a farm boy he was. But, Hunter had to admit reluctantly, it was beautiful out in the Texan countryside, in a desolate and stark sort of way. It was quiet, and so unlike how Shawn lived his life on tour that the contrast was a little jarring to begin with.

The house was set back from the road, giving Shawn his privacy, and his nearest neighbour's house was barely glimpsed from the driveway. The house itself was big, stretching out from the front door to both sides. There was a first floor, but the majority of the house was on the ground floor, reaching through to a large kitchen which opened out onto a sprawling backyard. The pool was fenced off on one side, next to a large paved area with seating and a grill. Shawn led him through the house quickly, pointing out the different rooms and directing Hunter to dump his stuff in a spare room next to a room Shawn said was a study but which Hunter called bullshit on. Shawn's room was upstairs, pretty much the only room up there apart from another bathroom. He said he had a cleaner and a housekeeper who kept his fridge stocked and his house presentable, and his folks lived down the road but he liked his own space so he was usually here on his own.

As Hunter washed up from the flight, Shawn scoured the kitchen for dinner. An hour later, they were both slumped out on deck chairs, watching the sun set over the arid fields past Shawn's garden. The heat was still there, though it had diluted to a more tolerable temperature. Shawn was nursing his third beer of the evening, whilst Hunter stuck to water,; he said he felt he needed to rehydrate from all the sweat leaving him from the heat of the sun. The remnants of their dinner lay on the table behind them and it was quiet, peaceful, save for the Texan bugs still buzzing away in the background.

“Okay, I know I ripped the piss out of you, but this is pretty nice,” Hunter said, tipping his head to catch Shawn's eye.

Shawn grinned, “yeah, I like it.”

“I'm not saying I agree with the cowboy boots and shit,” Hunter told him, draining the last of his water.

“You'll come round,” Shawn said, and Hunter paused in his journey back to the kitchen to flip him off jovially.

Hunter brought him another beer, setting it on the table between them, and sat back down, stretching out his legs. Shawn finished his bottle and reached for the cold bottle.

“So will we be shooting these beer bottles tomorrow, out on the ranch?” Hunter asked him.

“Yes,” Shawn replied, “and then we'll try your hand at pig riding.”

Hunter laughed as Shawn glared at him.

“I'm kidding, you know.”

“No, you're not,” Shawn replied, waving off Hunter's indignant snort.

“The peace and quiet is nice,” Hunter told him, waving an arm at the expanse of nature in front of them.

“Yeah,” Shawn smiled, rolling his head to look at Hunter, “yeah, it's pretty good. Nice to have someone to enjoy it with as well.”

Hunter nodded, “yeah, I can understand that.” He took a drink of water and studied Shawn. “Everything okay?”

Shawn sighed, tipping his head back against the chair and looking up at the darkening sky. “I miss you. It's strange now.”

Hunter sat up a little straighter. “You know if I could be there...”

Shawn nodded, “I know you'd be there. You were always there for me.”

“I still am. Shawn, you know that right? I'm still there for you, even if it has to be on the other end of the phone instead of in person.”

“It's just not quite the same though,” Shawn sighed again and Hunter felt his heart clench.

“If I can do anything-” Hunter started to say but Shawn cut him off.

“I think it's my own fault anyway. Always had to go that little bit further. Always had to push everyone that little bit more. You wouldn't have come down to the ring that night if I hadn't suggested it.”

“Bullshit.” Hunter stated, sitting forward in his chair and reaching out to grasp Shawn's knee. “You may think you hold that much authority over me, but bullshit. It was suggested, I made up my own mind, I wanted to do it, I wanted to say goodbye to Kev and Scott. It's my own fault that I'm in this situation, this is not on you.”

“But I'm the ringleader, it all rests on me,” Shawn said, staring down at Hunter's hand on his knee.

“Still wouldn't make a difference. I respect you a hell of a lot, and I'm blessed to have you as a friend, but stop taking responsibility for my own actions.”

“Doesn't help when I need you there after a show. Doesn't help my thinking.”

“I'll be back,” Hunter said, “I swear to you, it may take me a little while, but I'll be back. You won't be able to keep me away.”

“You promise me?” Shawn asked him, looking strangely vulnerable.

“I promise you,” Hunter told him sincerely and Shawn leant forward, reaching out to grip Hunter's shoulder, staring at him intently.

“You mean it,” Shawn said, and Hunter nodded.

“I wouldn't promise if I didn't.”

Something flashed in Shawn's eyes and Hunter inhaled sharply, unable to look away. Shawn's fingers dug into his shoulder and Hunter unconsciously leant in, moving in closer to him. Shawn glanced down at his mouth, and Hunter swallowed hard; he could almost feel Shawn's breath they were so close and they were only millimetres away when there was a sharp bark of noise from further away. Hunter started back, looking round wildly and Shawn laughed.

“Was that...?” Hunter asked and Shawn grinned.

“Yeah, that was my neighbour shooting at something. Vermin most likely.”

“Fucking hell,” Hunter sat back in his chair, clutching at his heart dramatically, and Shawn laughed at him.

“Welcome to Texas,” he drawled, taking another drink of his beer. Hunter thought the moment would be lost forever, that sanity would return and Shawn would back off, but Shawn caught his eye, smiling at him softly in a way that Hunter had only imagined in his dreams before.


	2. Chapter 2

Later that night, after Shawn had headed up the stairs to bed, Hunter stayed outside for a little longer. He couldn't switch off yet, his thoughts racing around his mind, replaying that moment with Shawn in his mind over and over again. This was going closer to something concrete, this was bordering on confessional – that moment earlier had almost tipped them over into the real world. Hunter couldn't stop thinking about it. To have it be confirmed? To even think about having more...

He shook his head and heaved himself out his chair. He couldn't think about that, it was too much and going down that road was too far. Being here for Shawn, as his friend and confidante, was enough. It was more than enough. He couldn't let himself begin to hope.

He gathered the last few bits and pieces from the table and headed inside, pulling the door closed firmly behind him. He puttered around the kitchen for a few minutes, tidying up the rubbish and then headed to bed. It had been a long day after all.

~

The next morning he woke first; the sun shone bright behind the shade over the window and the air con already hummed gently against the building heat. He reached for a pair of shorts and pulled his hair back into a ponytail. Shawn was a late sleeper, always had been, so Hunter was pretty sure he had at least an hour or two to himself.

Shawn had pointed out the small room where he kept a few bits of gym equipment the day before so Hunter headed there after filling a water bottle from the kitchen. There was silence from above when he paused at the bottom of the stairs for a moment and he smiled in fondness. Shawn could sleep through an aeroplane landing next to them which Hunter had to admit was a handy talent when they were on the road.

In deference to the morning quiet, he didn't put any music on, but settled into his usual gym routine as best he could with Shawn's equipment. The gym had always been a familiar and comforting place for Hunter; the one place where he has full control and it calmed him. Once he gets into a rhythm, time slips away from him so it's no real surprise when Shawn interrupted his set of reps with a knock at the door.

Hunter let the weights fall and looked up at Shawn, smiling at him in greeting. Shawn was giving him a fond look as he leant against the doorjamb.

“Having fun?” he asked.

“Always do,” Hunter told him, reaching for his towel to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

Shawn watched him for a moment before pushing himself upright. “Take a shower and I'll get some breakfast started. We can head down to the ring afterwards.”

Hunter nodded, draining the last of his water bottle as he headed for the bathroom.

“You gonna cook for me all weekend, huh?” he asked, knocking his shoulder with Shawn's as he passed him.

Shawn shoved at him in retaliation, “for that you're washing the dishes.”

~

After breakfast, which Shawn only burnt part of and which Hunter ate anyway, they both gathered their ring gear and headed out to Shawn's car.

The ring he usually practised in was just 20 minutes down the road, and they were pretty enamoured with Shawn so he could just turn up and they'd make room for him. Hunter followed him through to the locker room, where he pulled on loose shorts and a tank top. Shawn was changing into his own version of practice gear, the tights and bedazzled outfits nowhere to be seen.

They left their bags beside the ring, the main door closing firmly behind them, and Hunter took a deep breath. It smelt like every other practice ring he's been in; leather, wood and sweat; it smelt like coming home.

The gym near his parents house was good, but the ring there was always crowded with others, so he'd taken a step back, focusing on the weights and developing his core strength instead. But here, he was eager to get back in there, to test his skills and grapple with a master of the squared circle. Shawn had run through his warm up and was waiting for him in the ring, leaning on the ropes and looking down on him.

“You alright there?” he asked, tilting his head in question.

Hunter shook his head, laughing at himself a little. “Just missed this more than I remember. Give me 5 minutes to warm up.”

Shawn smiled at him warmly for a moment before nodding. “Just get in here when you're ready,” he called over his shoulder as he turned to launch himself across the ring.

Ten minutes later, Hunter hauled himself through the ropes into the ring and raised an eyebrow at Shawn who was propped up on the corner top rope, feet on one side of the ring, torso balanced on the other.

“Comfy?” Hunter asked.

“It's not bad,” Shawn returned, sliding off the ropes and bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. “You ready?”

Hunter nodded and Shawn grinned. Game on.

Two hours later, both of them were laid out on their backs on the mat, breathing heavily. Hunter had never felt so exhilarated, apart from maybe his first match in front of a paying crowd. From that first lock-up, it just felt natural again. His body remembered what he wanted to do, his adrenaline kicked up a gear, and Shawn had been grace personified. They'd fought, and wrestled, and suplexed each other; Shawn had leapt from the ropes, Hunter had twisted away from flying legs, and it had been heaven. He grinned up at the ceiling. This is where he belonged, right here in a wrestling ring with Shawn. He'd never been so sure about anything in his life, ever.

Shawn kicked at his ankle and Hunter tipped his head to see him.

“Finished having your moment?”

“Fuck you, that was brilliant, and you know it,” Hunter replied, kicking out at Shawn's ankle himself.

“You show Bischoff that passion and he'd be certifiable if he didn't hire you,” Shawn said.

“Yeah, because all wrestling promoters are known for their sanity,” Hunter replied and Shawn choked on a laugh.

“Just don't mention that at your meeting,” he said, rolling to the side of the ring and slipping out onto the floor.

Hunter laughed and heaved himself up, following him out to the locker room.

~

After lunch, Hunter sought refuge from the unrelenting heat in Shawn's pool. Shawn was muddling around with a lawn mower that Hunter would have classified as a tractor, deciding whether he should mow the lawn or leave it for a professional to do.

Hunter, swimming lazily around the pool, had a hard time keeping his opinion to himself.

“Have you ever mowed your lawn?”

“Sure,” Shawn replied.

“Since you were a kid or...?”

“Fuck you, Hunter,” Shawn called back over as he managed to turn it on. The thing roared to life for one glorious moment, long enough for Shawn to yell triumphantly, and then promptly died.

Hunter had to hold onto the edge of the pool, he was laughing so hard.

Shawn kicked at the thing's wheel before abandoning the machine and wandering across the backyard to the pool. He flopped down on one of the loungers there and tipped his hat forward against the sun, waiting for Hunter to stop laughing.

Hunter managed to pull himself together, and rested his arms on the tile around the pool, looking over to Shawn.

“Maybe get someone out to do it for you?”

Shawn flicked his hat back so he could look at Hunter. “Maybe,” he conceded after a pause. “The water good?”

“Heavenly,” Hunter said, kicking his feet and rippling the blue water. “You getting in?”

Shawn pulled off his shirt, knocking his hat to the ground, and stood, toeing his boots off and kicking them under the lounger. He padded over and sat down on the tile, sticking his feet in the water and splashing Hunter in the face.

Hunter ducked under the water to escape from him, rising back up in the middle of the pool and shaking his hair out of his eyes.

Shawn was watching him with a wistful look in his eyes.

“What's up?” Hunter asked, paddling back over to the side and resting a hand on Shawn's bare knee.

“You'll keep in touch, right?” Shawn asked him.

Hunter looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“When you get into WCW, you'll keep in touch with me?”

“Shawn, if I get in-”

“When,” Shawn interrupted. “There's no if's about it. Bischoff's jerking your chain to pay you back for leaving, but he'll take you.”

Hunter shook his head. “If I get in – I'll keep in touch. You let me know your schedule, I'll phone you, you phone me, hell I'll even drive to come and see you. You just let me know.”

“I mean, I know Kev and Scott, they're still my friends, still there for me. But it's different when they're not around all the time. I don't want us to drift apart because we're on different shows.”

Hunter smiled. “Not gonna happen, you foolishly decided to make me part of your crew when I joined, and you don't just get to change your mind. You're stuck with me, Michaels.”

“I blame Kev for that,” Shawn told him.

“No way, it's all on you. Kev told me – as soon as I said I didn't drink, you wanted me as your designated driver.”

“I didn't realise that meant we had to be friends as well; I thought you might just stay as part of my staff,” Shawn said, grinning.

“You are such a dick,” Hunter told him, and then pulled on Shawn's legs, sending him crashing into the water with a flail of arms.

Shawn surfaced, spluttering and pushing his hair out of his face. “What the fuck?”

“Serves you right,” Hunter told him, holding out his hand to help reel Shawn back to the side.

Shawn ignored his hand and reached for his shoulders, hanging there instead. Hunter automatically wrapped an arm around his waist to steady him, just like they were in the ring together.

Shawn let Hunter take his weight, drifting up to lie on his back, his hair floating out around him.

Hunter considered dumping him back into the water for a moment, but decided not to break the peaceful moment. He held Shawn up, leaning back against the side of the pool, and enjoyed the view.

Shawn was beautiful, lying spread out in front of him, with the water dripping off him and the sun beating down on the both of them.

He was hit by a pang of longing, that he wouldn't get to travel with Shawn any more, with his effervescent personality, his experience, his guiding hand in the business. He'd miss being on the road with him, just the two of them in a car, heading down dark roads to the next town, to the next hotel, to the next show. He'd miss the way Shawn could make him laugh, he'd miss Shawn's bark of laughter, even his bloody snoring from the other hotel bed.

This was what he wanted; he wanted to be with Shawn.

Shawn interrupted his musings by shifting out of his arms, standing up in front of him and tapping his forehead, leaving wet dots on his skin. He shifted closer to Hunter, the water sloshing gently between them and Hunter watched him, curiously.

“I just want to try something,” Shawn said, “and hope you'll still be my friend.”

“I'll always be your friend,” Hunter promised him, his hands coming up to rest of Shawn's arms.

Shawn nodded, and leant forward and kissed him.

Hunter froze, his hands gripping Shawn's arms tightly, and his heart beating so hard he thought it might beat right out of his chest.

Shawn's lips were dry and a little cracked from the heat. Hunter could taste the remnants of his sandwich from lunch, the sweetness of the soda he'd been drinking. He could feel his stubble around his mouth, catching softly against his own. One of Shawn's hands slid from his forehead down to his cheek, resting his fingertips lightly there, shifting gently against his skin. His other hand curled around Hunter's bicep, clutching tightly, in such contrast to the softness of his mouth.

Hunter let Shawn kiss him, waited there, frozen in the cool water, unable to do anything that might break the spell. His mind had gone entirely blank; he couldn't compute what was happening, couldn't understand this reality when it was his biggest dream.

Hunter had no idea how long the kiss lasted, it could have been seconds, it could have been hours, but when Shawn pulled away, the sun was still beating down around them, the birds still called in the distance, and the warm breeze still drifted over the grass behind them.

Shawn didn't move far, he didn't even step back. If anything, he moved in closer, shifting forward to rest his forehead against Hunter's in a move that was so intimate Hunter could barely stand it.

The thing was, if Shawn had just gone for it, had just swept in and kissed Hunter within an inch of his life, slid his hand down to grope at him, Hunter could have brushed it away. He could have handled it because that would have made sense. That brash confidence was something Hunter knew how to handle. It was the tenderness of Shawn's touch, the softness of his kiss, and the care with which he held on to him that shook Hunter's understanding of him, that filled him with hope.

He closed his eyes, pressing a little harder against Shawn. “Just wanted to try something, yeah?”

Shawn huffed out a laugh against his cheek, his fingers tracing small patterns over Hunter's face. “Yeah. Still my friend?”

Hunter smiled, opening his eyes, “Always.” He tightened his grip on Shawn's arms and shifted slightly in the water. “Do I get to try something now?”

Shawn grinned at him, his eyes wide and happy and his face all Hunter could see. “As long as you don't dunk me in the pool again,” Shawn told him.

“No,” Hunter said slowly, daring to move one hand down to curl around Shawn's hip, “I wasn't going to try that again.”

This time, Hunter kissed Shawn. He pulled Shawn until he was flush against him, nothing between them. He lost himself in the feeling of Shawn's body against his, of the taste of Shawn in his mouth and the smell of him in his nose. He felt Shawn's arms snake around him, one around his neck, the other snug around his waist and up against the pool wall behind him. His head, so blank before, was now racing, drowning in the thought of kissing Shawn, of holding Shawn like this.

He eventually pulled away when the need for air was burning in his lungs. Shawn didn't let him move far, went back to pressing their foreheads together.

“Are we really doing this in a pool in Texas?” Hunter asked, and Shawn laughed.

“You really complaining?” Shawn said.

Hunter paused for a moment, smiling almost shyly at Shawn. “No, not complaining. A little bemused about the location, and struggling to come to terms with this, but not complaining.”

“Well I didn't think pouncing on you in the ring was the right way of doing things,” Shawn said and Hunter pinched his side, making Shawn dance away from him, laughing.

“You wanna help me understand?” Hunter asked, the water feeling colder around him as Shawn's heat moved away. He boosted himself up to sit on the side of the pool, letting the heat of the sun warm him.

Shawn swam back over to him and Hunter held out his leg, letting Shawn hold onto it and float in front of him. It helped that Shawn was touching him, that this aspect of their relationship hadn't changed.

“Me and you, Hunts, we've always had something, there's always been something special there. I might not have acknowledged that at the start, but you've been there for me through everything, right from the beginning. You're special to me. I think I'm special to you.”

“You are,” Hunter told him. “You've always been special.”

Shawn smiled at him and Hunter felt warmth blossom in his chest.

“I don't know if I'd've ever done something if you hadn't been let go,” he confessed, “travelling with you and being with you day in and day out, it felt enough right then. I had you, you had me, we were okay. But with you not there, I don't know... something was missing. It didn't feel right.”

He rubbed his hand over Hunter's knee absently, staring off into the distance as he thought.

Hunter jiggled his leg a little and Shawn blinked back into focus.

“I need you,” he said simply, “I want you.”

He reached for the edge of the pool and hoisted himself up on his arms right in front of Hunter, hovering tantalisingly close.

Hunter fell into the temptation before him, leaning forward to kiss him again and tasting Shawn's smile on his lips. Hunter held him close with a hand cupped around the back of his head when they parted.

“I want you too,” he told him, watching the smile grow in Shawn's eyes.

“I knew it.”

Hunter laughed, kissing him again before pushing him back into the pool.

When Shawn had resurfaced and pulled himself out of the pool and they had both dried off with towels a little, they sat back on the deck together in their shorts, warming from the heat of the sun again.

Hunter knocked their shoulders together softly and Shawn leant in against him.

“So this is really going to happen?” Hunter asked.

Shawn nodded. “Oh it's happening. It was always going to happen at some point.”

Hunter quirked an eyebrow at him. “You think?”

“You don't?” Shawn replied.

Hunter paused, sighing a little. “You are such a dream of mine Shawn, you were so far out of reach to me, I'm not sure I'd ever have done anything about it. I never wanted to ruin our friendship, so to have you as a friend or risk it all for something that might not even come true... I was always just happy to be by your side, looking out for you.”

Shawn reached out to take Hunter's hand.

“I'm just glad you had the guts to try it and take that risk,” Hunter told him, “that we get to give this a go.”

“And if it all gets fucked up,” Shawn said, gripping Hunter's hand tightly, “not that I want it to and I'm gonna really try my hardest not to fuck this up Hunter, I swear, but if it does, you're still my best friend. I'm still going to be there for you.”

“Me too,” Hunter said, squeezing Shawn's hand. “And I know, about the whole fucking it up thing, you're not going to do it intentionally. Remember, I know you Shawn.”

“And yet you're still here...” Shawn grinned as Hunter laughed.

“Come on, you want some food? I'll cook this time,” Hunter offered, getting to his feet and reaching down to pull Shawn up.

Shawn went willingly, wrapping his arms around Hunter's waist and reaching up to kiss him. “You know the way to a man's heart.”

~

Their dinner was both new and exciting, and the same as it always had been. They'd always been affectionate with each other, casual touches and fond looks, that Hunter knew now he hadn't been imagining. Shawn was reaching out to touch Hunter deliberately, because he wanted to, because Hunter wanted him to. Shawn draped himself over Hunter's shoulder as he cooked the steaks; Hunter swatted at Shawn's ass when he tried to steal bread from the basket; he was rewarded with a kiss from Shawn when he finished preparing the salad. Hunter had never felt such warmth in such simple tasks. He understood what his mom had told him all those years ago about finding the right person. You just knew when it happened. Watching Shawn root for cutlery in the drawer and find plates for their food made his heart feel like it was about to burst out of his chest.

When they had finished eating, Shawn dumped their dishes in the sink and pulled Hunter towards him by the shirt he had insisted he should wear to cook.

“I prefer you without the shirt,” Shawn told him.

“Fat burns aren't sexy,” Hunter replied.

“But I find you sexy.”

Hunter groaned. “Your pick up lines are horrendous,” he told him.

“And yet here you are,” Shawn said. “Should I try some others on you?”

“Please, no,” Hunter said but Shawn ignored him.

“Hey sexy, do you come here often?”

“Shawn, no, please-”

“Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

“Make it stop-” Hunter was laughing now, trying to pull away from Shawn who was determinedly hanging on.

“Do you have a band aid? Because I just scraped my knee falling for you.”

“I swear to God, Shawn, I am going to suplex you into the kitchen sink in a minute-”

“I never showed you my bedroom; wanna see it now?”

Hunter paused. “Okay,” he relented, “that one I can get on board with.”

Shawn grinned and made for the stairs, Hunter following willingly in his wake.

Shawn's room was simple, a large bed dominated the middle of the room, with dark wood furnishings and simple decoration. Hunter managed a glance around for a brief moment, spying a few photos that were displayed on the dresser, and a wardrobe door ajar, clothes hung haphazardly inside, before his attention was drawn back to Shawn.

Shawn, who had managed to sprawl himself out on his bed in the few seconds where Hunter's attention had wavered. He was still shirtless from being in the pool earlier, but he had at least changed into dry shorts. He looked gorgeous, spread out on the bed, tanned skin seeming to go on for miles. He beckoned him over and Hunter was drawn to him like a magnet, climbing up onto the bed and moving to lie out alongside Shawn.

Shawn turned towards him, his hands gliding over Hunter's side as he moved, and Hunter wrapped his arms around him, settling in.

Shawn leant forward and kissed him, fingers gripping the hem of Hunter's shirt before sliding under to stroke the smooth skin of his waist. Hunter cradled Shawn's head with one hand, his fingers sliding into Shawn's hair, and wrapped his other hand around Shawn's arm, keeping him close as he kissed him back, pouring everything he was feeling into the kiss, hoping that Shawn understood him.

“Oh babe,” Shawn whispered against Hunter's mouth, their lips brushing with every word, “don't worry. I've got you. I'll look after you.”

“I know,” Hunter whispered back, tightening his grip on Shawn, “I know. I trust you.”

To be the sole focus of Shawn's attention was the most intense thing he had ever experienced before. Hunter felt Shawn was everywhere at once, he felt he was drowning in Shawn, and he was more than happy to be swept along in the flood, trying to give back as good as he got, to prove his own devotion. Shawn worshipped Hunter's body, whispered words of endearment into his skin, turned him inside out with his mouth and hands, left him feeling like he was floating in the air, steadied him when he returned to Earth and cradled him as if he was the most precious item in the world. Hunter was left gasping for air, his hands on Shawn's skin the only thing grounding him to reality, desperate to touch and be touched in return. His world shrank down to just Shawn, who moved around him and consumed him, and Hunter gave him everything he could in return.

They lay together after with Shawn draped across Hunter's chest, dozing lightly. Hunter had one arm curled around Shawn's waist, holding him securely, with his other arm tucked up under his head. As exhausted as he was, he couldn't sleep yet. His mind replayed what they had just done, what they had become, and he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. It had been even more incredible than he could imagine. And imagine he had done, in showers, on long flights, lying in a bed across the room from Shawn. To have that become reality, he was speechless. Shawn was everything. There would be no one else for him now, Hunter was sure of that. To have this man's attention, to be with him – it could be dangerous, Shawn could burn him up and spit him out, but it was worth it. No matter what happened, to have had this weekend with him was worth it.


	3. Chapter 3

Hunter left Texas 2 days later, flying back to his parents with the memory of Shawn's mouth against his burned into his brain, and Shawn's schedule for the next two weeks carefully stowed away in his luggage.

Shawn had driven them both to the airport, where he was catching a flight to rejoin WWF for RAW that night, but they had said goodbye properly that morning, in the privacy of Shawn's kitchen.

“You've got my schedule?” Shawn asked, pressed up against the counter with Hunter bracketing him in from all sides.

“I got your schedule,” Hunter told him, leaning down to kiss him, his hands dipping into Shawn's back pockets, “and I'll call you tonight, after RAW.”

“You think we have time for a quickie?”

Hunter laughed, squeezing Shawn's ass through the denim. “I wish, but we have to be at the airport in less than an hour-”

“Plenty of time babe,” Shawn said.

“And it takes us 45 minutes to get there,” Hunter finished.

“Bet I could manage it,” Shawn grinned up at him.

“After this morning's activities, even with your talents, you'd be pushing it.” Hunter kissed him again, pulling them together and Shawn looped an arm around Hunter's neck.

“You gotta stop kissing me like that then, otherwise we'll both miss our flights,” Shawn said, ignoring his own words to press their lips together for another long moment.

“I'll see you soon, I promise,” Hunter said, “my meeting with Bischoff is only a couple hours drive from where you'll be. No matter the outcome, I'll drive down and see you.”

“Good. Gonna be a lot of lonely nights without you there.”

“Just make sure there's no one else there keeping you company,” Hunter said and it was probably the closest they'd come to actually discussing how they were going to keep this going.

Shawn grinned. “Don't get jealous, I'll be saving myself for you.”

Hunter pressed their heads together, aware he was probably holding on too tightly. “Just me and you, together.”

“Always,” Shawn promised him, cupping Hunter's face in his hands and kissing him.

Once they'd left the house, they'd hugged goodbye at the airport and Hunter had watched for a minute as Shawn navigated through the crowds to find his gate.

Sitting in the too-small seat of his own flight, he closed his eyes and was swept away by memories of the last few days. He wasn't sure how it would work now they were away from the sanctuary and privacy that Shawn's ranch offered. With Shawn back into the never-stopping life of the WWF, and Hunter away to hopefully join their rival, would they be able to keep whatever was there between them going? He already missed Shawn, felt the space beside him was empty without him there. Would Shawn feel the same way? Or would the temptation of the bar, and alcohol, and female company after a hard show win out? Only time would tell.

~

Hunter spent the rest of the week training hard and going back into the ring to get himself in the best shape for his meeting, and missing Shawn.

His heart had been in his throat when he had phoned Shawn that first night but Shawn had answered after two rings. They'd spoken for over an hour, discussing the show, Shawn's match, where the story lines were heading; it was like Hunter was there in the room with him; it was what they had done after every show when they were travelling together.

That had set the pattern for their calls; sometimes Shawn would phone him first, but they spoke every night. Shawn told Hunter he had spoken to Vince about Hunter's meeting with Bischoff, and Vince had said he'd get in touch.

Shawn told him the gossip from the road, how he was doing and who he was travelling with (an exceedingly select group). Hunter kept him up to date with his exciting life in the gym, and they skirted around their relationship, neither of them brave enough to have that conversation over the phone.

Each night, Hunter told Shawn he missed him, and Shawn replied in kind. They both waited in silence for a few more moments before one of them eventually put the phone down.

~

Hunter had his meeting with Bichoff that Thursday. It went pretty much as he expected; Bischoff dragged it out, left him hanging for hours afterwards before offering Hunter his contract. He'd be low-card at best at the start, despite Kev and Scott's best efforts, and the pay was shit, but he was back wrestling. He was back to doing what he loved.

Kev and Scott took him for food to celebrate, promising him he'd be back up on the mid-card in less than a month. Hunter was grateful they were there for him, that the Kliq was still going strong even if they were missing a member at the table.

Dinner didn't last long, Kev and Scott were on the road to the next show after a couple of hours. Hunter was due to start next week, he'd be joining them for the three house shows after the televised performance on Monday, with his televisual début the Monday after. Shawn was with the WWF a couple of hours down the road. He hadn't mentioned to either Kevin or Scott that he was planning on going to visit Shawn; they'd believed he was heading back to his folks and he hadn't corrected them.

This was something he wanted to keep, just for himself and Shawn, for a little longer. He wasn't sure how the knowledge that he was going to see Shawn, and by extension the WWF, as soon as he had signed his contract with WCW would go down.

When he reached the right hotel, he found that Shawn had left a key for him at reception, as promised, and as the house show was still going on, Hunter made it up to Shawn's room undetected. It felt like stepping back home when he entered the room, even though he had never been to that hotel before. Shawn's belongings were strewn across the room in a familiar pattern with only his kit bag missing. There was an abandoned towel lying on one of the double beds, getting the cover damp, and a belt lying over the back of the desk chair, a shirt and sock lying half under the desk.

Hunter dumped his bag on the floor, and picked up the towel, hanging it up in the bathroom to dry properly. He put Shawn's belt and clothing back in one of the open bags because Shawn would undoubtedly forget it when packing the next morning and blame Hunter. It had happened before.

He found some sport to watch on the television and settled down to wait for Shawn, his stomach churning with butterflies. Would it feel the same as being back on Shawn's ranch? Or was it going to be different now they were out in the real world?

An hour later, there was noise in the corridor, and Hunter sat up from his slump on the sofa and looked over to the door. He could hear muffled voices speaking from further down the corridor, and then there was Shawn's voice answering, right outside the door. There was the scrape of a key in the lock, the door opened, and there was Shawn. He called goodbye to someone over his shoulder, before locking eyes with Hunter and slamming the door shut behind him.

Hunter was on his feet, his eyes drinking in the sight of him. He was dressed as normal; jeans, boots, a t-shirt that had seen better days, and his hair was still damp from the shower, pulled back into a quick ponytail. Hunter had never seen him look better.

His kitbag was dropped to the floor with a thud and Hunter swallowed hard. Shawn very carefully pulled the deadlock shut on the door and moved towards him.

They met in the middle, bodies slamming together as they kissed desperately, hands clutching at shirts.

“How can I miss you so fucking much when it's only been 4 days?” Hunter asked, nipping at Shawn's mouth.

“Fuck knows,” Shawn replied, grabbing at the hem of Hunter's t-shirt and pulling it over his head. “But it happened, you weren't here and now you are.”

Hunter let his t-shirt be flung off behind him, and then used his size to start muscling Shawn back towards the clean bed. He had thought they might talk, at first, get things a little more settled between them after not seeing each other for a few days but he'd been unprepared for the wave of emotion that had hit him when he'd seen Shawn in person.

Shawn fell back onto the bed and Hunter followed him, kneeling up to help divest Shawn of his own shirt before they fell back on each other again.

“Wait, wait,” Shawn said, pushing at Hunter until he rolled off of him, confused.

Shawn reached down, tugging off his boots and tossing them with abandon to the other side of the room. He flicked open the buttons on his jeans and stripped them off as well, kicking his legs free.

Hunter groaned at the sight of him. “Shawn, you're not wearing any underwear.”

Shawn laughed, reaching for Hunter and the waistband of his jeans. “I knew I was coming back to you; there was no need for underwear. Not with everything I've been thinking about since Monday.”

Between them, they got Hunter's jeans and boxers off and pushed to the floor. Shawn flipped Hunter onto his back and sat up, straddling him.

“The things you do to me, Michaels,” Hunter managed to get out as his hands came up to catch Shawn's waist.

“Nothing compared to what you do to me,” Shawn said, leaning down to kiss Hunter's neck, making him arch his head back against the pillows.

“You know how hard it's been?” Shawn asked, pressing his words into Hunter's skin as he settled down on top of him. “Looking across and seeing that empty bed where you would usually sleep?”

“Shawn-” Hunter moaned, one hand pushing up into Shawn's hair and holding on tight.

“Three days of you in my bed in Texas,” Shawn continued, one hand wandering down the broad expanse of Hunter's chest, catching on his bellybutton and making his stomach contract sharply, “three days of having you, just you, all to myself, any way I wanted it, any way you wanted it-”

Hunter groaned loudly, thrusting up into Shawn's touch, into his body, and Shawn slapped a hand down over his mouth, moving up to speak into Hunter's ear.

“Shh, babe,” he nipped at Hunter's earlobe, causing a shiver to run down Hunter's spine, “gotta be quiet. We ain't miles from any neighbours now.” His hand on Hunter's stomach moved again, stroking in circles, each one getting slightly lower to where Hunter craved his touch.

Hunter felt like he was losing his mind; all his attention was on Shawn, on his breath in his ear as he detailed to him exactly the kind of noises he'd make Hunter utter if they were back in Texas, exactly what he was going to do to him, on his hand sweeping ever closer to where he wanted it to be, to his heat surrounding him.

“Shawn-” Hunter whispered, managing to turn his head to face him; he felt like he had just run a marathon his breath was catching so heavily in his chest. “Shawn, please,”

“What? What do you want? Anything, you can have it,” Shawn promised him, his beautiful eyes looking down at Hunter, so warm, and so close.

“Kiss me,” Hunter demanded and Shawn did, his hand finally reaching its destination and wrapping around Hunter who gasped as Shawn's lips met his.

Heat flared through him, and he managed to wrap his leg around Shawn's and twist so they were lying side by side. He kept one hand in Shawn's hair, anchoring him to Hunter, and managed to reach down and take a hold of Shawn's ass, pulling them flush against each other.

Shawn muffled his own groan into Hunter's mouth and Hunter kissed him, powerless to do anything else as they pulled each other closer to the edge. They were both sweating profusely, with the heat of each other and the force of their exertions, and Hunter lost his grip momentarily on Shawn, his hand sliding away.

He swore as they broke their kiss, eyes squeezing shut as Shawn wrapped his hand around both of them and stroked tightly.

“Shawn,” he managed, clutching at Shawn's back, “I'm not gonna last, fuck,” he swore again as Shawn's hand twisted between them.

“It's okay,” Shawn told him, biting at Hunter's chin, desperate to keep touching him in any way he could, “it's okay, me neither. Fuck Hunter, the way you feel...”

The coil in his gut wound tighter and tighter at Shawn's words; he was panting for air now and Shawn was kissing him again, speaking against his lips.

“It's okay, I got you, I got you, it's fine, come on Hunter,” he whispered and Hunter felt himself start to fall apart. “It's okay... I love you.”

The words were barely audible, whispered against his mouth and Hunter was lost. The world shattered around him and all he could do was ride it out, clutch Shawn to him and replay those three little words over and over in his mind.

When his head finally cleared, when feeling had returned to his hands and feet, he found Shawn tucked up against him, chin resting on his chest, watching him carefully.

“Hi,” Hunter's voice cracked and he cleared his throat, a flush staining his cheeks. “Hi.”

Shawn smiled at him, “you're adorable.”

“Yeah, so I didn't think our reunion would be over that quick. Sorry. The effect you have on me...”

Shawn reached up to him and Hunter wrapped an arm around him and flipped them over, leaning up on an elbow over Shawn, his hair falling down around them so they were in their own little world. He leant down and kissed his mouth, his cheek, his forehead.

“You mean it?” he asked quietly, pressing another soft kiss to Shawn's cheekbone and smoothing the skin with his thumb.

Shawn turned and pressed his lips to the palm of Hunter's hand, catching his eye, not even pretending he didn't know what he talking about. “Yes.”

Hunter's heart leapt in his chest and his breath left him. “Me too,” he said, before catching himself, “I mean, I love you too. You must have known.”

Shawn smiled, his body now loose and relaxed below Hunter, warm and inviting. “It's nice to have it confirmed,” he said and Hunter smiled back at him.

Later, they were in bed together, Shawn relaxing back against Hunter's chest, watching the television that Hunter hadn't had the presence of mind to switch off before Shawn entered the room before.

“Oh!” Shawn started, tipping his head back to look at Hunter. “How did the meeting go?”

“I start next week with them, signed my contract today.”

“Told you,” Shawn said, “they'd have been crazy not to take you.”

“I'm low-card to start with, if that,” Hunter pressed a kiss to Shawn's head, “but at least I'm wrestling again.”

“Did you see Nash and Razor?”

“Yeah, they took me to dinner to celebrate. Said they'd try to get me some better matches as quickly as possible.”

“Are you taking the cape with you?” Shawn asked.

Hunter laughed. “No, Hunter Hearst Helmsley stays with WWF. Going back to Terra Ryzing.”

Shawn winced in sympathy at the name, and Hunter shrugged. “It'll be fine.”

“When you get back to WWF, we're changing the gimmick. You were never a true blue blood – gotta let everyone know about your bad boy image.”

Hunter laughed. “Sure, I'm the typical bad boy. Hand me that shot of water, I'll down ten at once.”

Shawn elbowed him in the ribs. “Okay, not with the drinking, smartass. But you,” he twisted, poking Hunter in the chest with one firm finger, “you were never that aristocrat. I told you, right from the start, you're Triple H, not Hunter Hearst Helmsley. You get what you want, no matter what.”

“I got you, so I suppose that's true,” Hunter told him, and Shawn laughed, bright and happy.

“Total bad boy,” he said, smiling up at him.

“Got a thing for bad boys, huh?” Hunter asked.

“No, I got a thing for you,” Shawn told him, and Hunter had no choice but to roll them over and kiss him senseless.

He fell asleep that night tucked up behind Shawn, one arm wrapped around Shawn's waist. It felt right.

~

The next morning they debated going out for breakfast, before Shawn had to hit the road. But Hunter was selfish and craved Shawn's company for himself, so they ordered room service instead.

Seated cross-legged on the rumpled bed, Shawn watched Hunter pack up the room, folding Shawn's clothes neatly and scouring the bathroom for leftover toiletries, while they waited for the food.

As Hunter zipped the last bag, there was a knock at the door. Shawn slid off the bed and moved forward.

“I'll get it, you're not even supposed to be here, remember?” He pressed a kiss to Hunter's cheek as he passed, and Hunter went to move the suitcase to join the others sitting by the sofa.

Shawn brought the trays of food back in, and they both sat down, Shawn on the sofa and Hunter perched on the end of the bed.

“Who are you travelling with today?” Hunter asked, after they had eaten in comfortable silence for a few minutes..

Shawn paused, scrunching up his face as he tried to remember. “Meeting 'Taker downstairs, we're headed to the airport together, along with Mick I think.”

“At least you've got someone responsible looking after you,” Hunter said, smiling at Shawn's affronted face.

“I'm perfectly responsible-” he started to reply before Hunter held up a hand.

“Remember Sacramento?”

Shawn scowled. “Yes,” he muttered.

“And Pennsylvania?”

“Okay, that one I blame on the car-”

“And Dallas?”

“Okay, fine, I can't read a map. I get it.”

Hunter laughed and Shawn flipped him off, reaching over to steal some of his bacon in retaliation.

“But the travelling is okay?” Hunter asked, arm now curved around his plate protectively.

“It's different, not being with you guys. I miss it, I miss your friendship and support, but it's okay. I get by.”

“When I know my schedule proper, we can, I don't know, figure something out.”

Shawn, having finished his food, set his plate down on the table and moved to sit beside Hunter on the bed. Hunter moved his own plate aside and turned to face him.

“Hunter, babe,” Shawn reached out and took one of his hands, “I can look after myself.”

Hunter raised a sceptical eyebrow, and Shawn laughed, shoving at him lightly.

“Stop being a dick. I can, I know I do stupid shit, and yes, I get lost easy, but I can look after myself.”

“But I want to be there, I want to be there with you,” Hunter told him, lacing their fingers together.

“And I want you with me; if there's a choice, I always want you with me. But you've got your own career, you're with a different company now, you've gotta focus on you as well.”

“I know that, but...” Hunter trailed off, looking down at their hands. “What does it mean for us?”

“I've no fucking idea,” he said. “Really, not a fucking clue. Think there are any gay wrestlers who are with different companies that we can go and ask how they manage it?”

“Shawn,” Hunter said, “don't be like that.”

“I'm serious. Who the fuck knows? I don't know anyone else in this position!” Shawn told him, irritation in his words.

“So we figure it out!” Hunter snapped back, tightening his grip on Shawn's hand. “We figure it out like we do everything else and we do it together. I love you, you asshole. I want to be with you. I'm not going to put that on hold for 6 months, 12 months, however long it takes me to get back to the fucking WWF, get me back to you.”

“Hunter,” Shawn soothed him, reaching out to place a warm hand on his chest. “Hunter, calm down. I know, I know. It's frustrating, I get that. But I'm not asking you to jeopardize your career for me. You've gotta be focused, you know you have to. You've got to get up there, get the board to sit up and take notice, make them want you back here.”

“What are you asking then?” Hunter asked.

“I'm saying, we see how it goes. We're in uncharted territory, babe, so we take it a few days at a time.”

Hunter sighed. “How did you end up being the voice of reason?”

Shawn smiled. “It had to happen at some point.”

Hunter kissed him, pulling him in by his grip on Shawn's hand. “Okay,” he pressed their heads together, speaking quietly, “okay, so I go back to my folks, I join WCW next week and we keep each other updated with schedules. We'll talk?”

“We'll talk,” Shawn confirmed. “We'll talk, and we'll figure out where we can meet up, and when.”

“Four days was bad enough; not sure how I can manage longer,” Hunter told him.

“Don't,” Shawn said, “I don't want to think about it.”

Hunter stopped talking and kissed him again, long and hard and full of passion. Shawn's grip on his hand was bordering on painful, but it would be a lasting memory. Something that Hunter could use to ground himself. He moved closer to Shawn, getting as much contact from him as he could.

Eventually, Shawn pulled away.

“I gotta go, I gotta get ready to meet 'Taker.” He pulled back, disentangling himself from where they had both ended up sprawled on the bed, and standing up. Hunter sat up, pushing his hair back from his face as he did so.

“When's your flight?” Shawn asked, grabbing his jacket from the chair and shrugging into it.

“Couple of hours; I'm gonna go find a gym, take some of my frustration out,” Hunter said.

Shawn turned to look at him, “think you'll manage to get out of here undetected?”

“I'll wait a while after you've gone then go checkout.”

“I paid for the room last night, so no need to worry there,” Shawn said. “Just... you don't blend in easy. Be careful.”

Hunter got off the bed, moving towards Shawn and placed his hands on Shawn's hips. “I'll be careful. I promise.”

“Don't want to give Bischoff a chance to be even more of a dick,” Shawn explained, holding onto Hunter's biceps.

Hunter kissed him again and Shawn pressed himself closer.

“I love you,” Hunter told him and Shawn smiled.

“Love you too. I'll speak to you tonight, I'll phone you at your folks yeah?”

Hunter nodded.

“And I'll see you soon, I swear,” Shawn said, “we just gotta figure this out.”

Hunter nodded again and pressed a kiss to Shawn's forehead before letting him go. “Be careful,” he said as Shawn started gathering his bags and heading towards the door.

“Always am, babe.” He paused at the door, taking one last long look at Hunter and then blew him a kiss before shouldering his way out to the corridor.


	4. Chapter 4

Hunter made it out of the hotel and to the airport without being seen. Back home, he accepted his parents congratulations over his new contract, explained the bare outline of his schedule and sheepishly asked if he could stay with them a little longer. They, of course, said yes.

He finally escaped to his room, the door clicking shut behind him. His bags dropped heavily to the floor and he collapsed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Last night had been perfect; he and Shawn together again. And then after their conversation this morning, everything was back up in the air. He loved Shawn and he knew Shawn loved him. But to have nothing concrete now to go on, no visit planned, not sure when he would next see him was hard.

Shawn was dazzling, like a star in the sky, he drew people towards him. Hunter had no problem trusting Shawn; it was other people he had an issue with. He knew what life as a wrestler could be like. He had been relieved somewhat to hear Shawn was travelling with 'Taker and Mick, two stabilising forces in the locker room. Shawn could be a dick but he respected both of them so he could only hope there was some consistency for him there.

Life on the road was tough; you saw hotel room, gym, arena, bar, hotel room, car. Repeat five times a week. Fifty two weeks a year. You needed a support system, you needed your family there and yet three members of Shawn's family were on another show, in another hotel however many hours down the road. Hunter worried; it was part of his nature. The others teased him because of it, but it was what he did. He counted heads, he made sure he could drive when no one else could. He booked hotels, changed flights, gathered luggage, made sure they ate, made sure they worked out, made sure they warmed up before a match. He liked it, he liked looking out for his family, he liked to provide support and help. To not be there for any of them, but especially Shawn, hurt.

To not know when he would see Shawn again already weighed heavily on him. And now there was the added factor of knowing Shawn's touch. To have known the weight of Shawn around him, to have known what it felt like to kiss him, to fall asleep with him, to wake up with him there... and to not know when he would have that again; the discontent ate at his stomach.

He tried to keep himself busy, to take his mind off it. He washed his laundry, sorted his kit for the next few weeks on the road. He phoned the WCW office to get a full copy of his schedule, of where he was expected to be. He phoned Kevin and arranged where they would meet. He'd bunk with Kevin for the first few nights, until he got his feet under him, and he planned to arrange his travel so they would arrive together. He phoned the airline, booked a flight and reserved a car. He sorted paperwork that he'd been neglecting. When he ran out of tasks, he moved through to the kitchen, talked to his mom for a while and caught up on the family news. He went for a walk, made it to the end of the street in the summer heat, then worried he'd miss Shawn's call so returned back to the house.

His parents went out that evening, and left him to his own devices, thankfully seemingly oblivious to his restless behaviour. He sat on the sofa in the lounge, and listened to the house settle around him, his head tipped back to look up at the ceiling.

The shrill ringing of the phone startled him, and he almost dropped the receiver as he lunged for the handset.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” Shawn's comforting drawl came through the line, a little static distorting it slightly.

The knot of worry that had sat under his ribcage all day loosened a little.

“Hi, you get home okay?”

“Yeah, flight had a bit of turbulence but it was fine,” Shawn replied. “Listen, Hunter, how we left things-”

“No, I'm sorry I got worked up; it's just frustrating. We've gotten to this point, and we can't seem to do anything about it.”

“We'll figure it out, me and you, though. Like you said. We just, we've gotta give it some time.”

“I know; I want it right away, I want everything with you now but I get it. It'll take time. I've got to think about working for Bischoff, I've gotta be good on WCW to get back to you, you were right.”

Shawn sighed down the phone. “You get that I don't like this just as much as you, right?”

Hunter huffed out a laugh. “I know, I get it. I just want to be there for you, with you.”

“And we'll get there, we will. But it's gonna take time.”

“I know, I do.”

“Good. I miss you, babe.”

“I miss you too.”

Hunter left their phone conversation feeling better. Yes, it sucked, and he still didn't know exactly when he'd see Shawn again, but they understood each other. He'd just have to work through his own issues with this.

~

He travelled down to join up with WCW that Monday, met up with Nash and Hall, and was introduced to the locker room. It was a strange experience; for the first time he wasn't the complete new boy. He had contacts, he had friends, and he had a year's worth of experience in the WWF to fall back on. There were snide remarks, there always would be because of who he was friends with. Some held a grudge over the curtain call, felt they had changed the business in some reprehensible way, but others were more accepting and like that they had done it.

He caught up on story lines, introduced himself to the creative team who were set up at the gorilla position and watched the show from Nash's dressing room.

After, he drove Kevin and Scott to the bar, and started to establish some relationships with some of the roster. There were a few who weren't willing to speak with him because of his friendship with two of the top dogs; there were already whispers of favouritism even though he was still far down the pecking order in terms of bookings. But on the most part, they were aware of the nature of the business and accepted him at face value.

They traded stories for a while, compared injuries and bumps they'd taken in the ring, found mutual acquaintances, and Hunter felt a little more settled in their company.

They didn't get back to the hotel until after midnight; Hunter eyed the phone in his room, wondering if he could get a call in to Shawn, but Kev was already practically snoring in his bed, so he turned away from the phone and followed suit, collapsing down onto his bed.

It felt strange not being able to speak to Shawn before he fell asleep, and he had to remind himself that he'd only been with Shawn just over a week. But then, it'd had never just been a week. This thing with Shawn had started as soon as they had met; it had been going on for months. It's just a fact that he slept better when he knew that Shawn was safe.

He tossed and turned in bed for a while; Kevin's snores were comforting and familiar, but it wasn't the same as having Shawn's breath against his skin, or the feeling of his arms wrapped around him.

~

Hunter woke early, as usual, and was reminded of why he liked travelling with Kevin. They both loved the gym. Sure, Scott and Shawn would go to the gym, and they would train as hard as anyone, but they didn't love it the way Hunter and Kevin did.

That early in the morning, the gym was still quiet from other members of the roster. There were a few other gym-goers but apart from stopping them for a brief chat, they left them alone to train as they wanted. It was comfortable and peaceful to work out together, both of them having their own routine but taking turns to spot for each other. It helped to re-establish their friendship again.

After they'd woken up Hall, they headed out for breakfast at a diner just down the road from the hotel.

“Hey, how's Shawn?” Scott asked, signalling to the waitress that he needed a coffee top up.

Hunter had to concentrate hard on not choking on his eggs before answer. “Um, good.”

“I spoke to him a couple of days ago, he said you'd been to visit him last week.”

Hunter nodded, taking a drink of his own coffee. “Yeah, I had some free time, figured I had to see that ranch of his eventually.”

Scott laughed, sharing a look with Kevin; they all knew Shawn's ranch.

“But he's doing okay?” Kevin asked.

“Missing having us there to travel with, he said it's been strange but he's okay. He was travelling with Mick and 'Taker, I think,” Hunter replied.

“We should call him tonight,” Scott suggested, and Hunter brightened.

“Yeah, he gave me a copy of his schedule so we could keep in touch.”

“Decided. We'll call later,” Kevin declared and clinked mugs with Hunter.

They hit the road soon after, and Hunter once again automatically took the driver's seat, with Kev and Scott teasing him over how much his driving skills had been missed.

That evening, Hunter was finally allowed back into the ring. He was wrestling Billy Kidman, another low-card, young wrestler who was trying to improve his own standing within the company, and Hunter had actually been scheduled to win. It was a mid-show bout, the filler between the big opener and the big promo for the NWO tag-team match with Nash and Hall, but it was wrestling in a ring in front of a crowd. Hunter didn't care where he was placed on the schedule.

Pulling on his wrestling gear, the tights, boots, knee pads, it was comfortable and familiar. He pulled his hair back into a ponytail, forgoing the delicate braids as he wasn't an aristocrat any longer. He was thankful that Bischoff had decided to forego the whole French colonialist that he had been when he left WCW the first time; after his stint as Hunter Hearst Helmsley on WWF, Bischoff wanted to separate his characters – Hunter was just relieved he didn't have to do the accent any more.

Standing at the gorilla position, waiting for his introduction, Hunter felt a weight lift off his shoulders. This was what he was born to do. It was beautiful, feeding off the crowd's energy, landing moves, telling a story with his body in the ring. To have the possibility of doing this one day in the same ring as Shawn, feeling the crowd's reactions build, well, it was his new obsession. It was the next goal to aim for and Hunter had never failed himself yet.

Kevin and Scott offered him congratulations when he made it back through the curtain as they waited for their own cue; Hunter felt like he was floating on air.

He took a shower and packed his bag before heading down to finish watching the show with the rest of the roster who had stuck around. It was always different at house shows; there was a little bit more freedom from the television cameras, and it was always interesting to see what people decided to try out in the ring.

Hunter knew he had a deep love and obsession with the wrestling business as a whole, and while not everyone had his same passion and enthusiasm, everyone liked to talk. He liked nothing better than watching and listening to other wrestlers, taking on hints and tips from them and looking for ways to improve himself. Sitting around while a show played in the background was one of the best places to learn as people recounted stories, half tales that they'd heard from others, and commented on the matches being played out in front of them.

Kevin and Scott joined him, adding their own stories into the mix. They stayed a little while after the show ended, someone breaking out the crate of beer and a companionable atmosphere in the room. Hunter loved the camaraderie that came within the wrestling business. Yes, there were rivalries, and not everyone got on, and it was tough, but you met some of the best people there. Shawn, Kevin, Scott and Sean were a testament to that.

Kevin was the first one to stand, and that started everyone following suit. Some were going to carry on their drinking but the three of them headed back to the hotel, Hunter intent on speaking to Shawn.

Scott came back to Kevin's room and opened the mini bar whilst Hunter dug out Shawn's schedule and found the number for the hotel for Kevin to dial. It rang three times before there was a pause and then Shawn's voice came down the line.

“'lo?”

“Hey buddy!” Kevin pulled the receiver towards himself, and listened to what Shawn was saying on the other line. Hunter wanted to listen in, wanted to hear Shawn's voice, but he let Kevin have his time. He went to help Scott with the drinks.

“Put him on speaker, Kev!” Scott called and Kevin waved him off. The hotel phone wasn't that sophisticated, there was no speaker phone.

Hunter sat down with Scott and tried to follow the conversation Kevin was having with Shawn; it was made more difficult by the fact that Shawn seemed to be doing the majority of the talking. When Shawn had finished his story, Scott was summoned to speak with Shawn and Kevin came to take his place with Hunter on the sofa.

“He seems okay,” Kevin said, picking up the drink Scott had made for him. “Said he had a good show tonight.”

Hunter nodded, clutching his glass of water tightly. It felt wrong to be hearing about Shawn from Kevin; he just wanted to speak to him. Scott wound up his conversation with Shawn after a few minutes and beckoned Hunter over to take his place.

Hunter sat on the edge of his bed, and clutched the receiver tightly. “Hey Shawn.”

“Hey, thought I'd never get to speak to you,” Shawn's voice was warm in his ear and he grinned involuntarily.

“How you doing man?”

“I'm good,” Shawn replied, and Hunter could hear him shifting about in the background, “I miss you, though.”

“Yeah, me too.” Hunter glanced towards Kevin and Scott, glad to see they weren't paying him much attention. He angled himself a little further away from them.

“Nash and Hall still in the room?” Shawn asked, sounding amused.

“Yeah,” Hunter replied, and Shawn laughed down the phone.

“This could be awkward then,” he said, “suppose I can't really go into detail about how much I miss you and what I'd rather be doing to you?”

“Nah, probably not,” Hunter told him, fighting to keep his amusement out of his words. “Tell me about your match?”

Shawn laughed again but dutifully ran through his match for Hunter, and then asked Hunter about his own match. Shawn understood the obsession, Shawn got what Hunter was trying to say in only a few words, and his soft words of reassurance were like a balm to Hunter's soul.

“First match done then, and you're on tv next week?”

“Scheduled to be, yeah.”

“I'm looking forward to watching. What's your angle?” Shawn asked.

“They're not sure yet, at the moment I'm just trying to build up some momentum, get some matches under my belt and see where I can go from there.”

“Keep showing casing your best, babe, I believe in you.”

“Thanks, I-” Hunter cut himself off abruptly, remembering where he was at the last second. “Thanks.”

Kevin glanced over at him and Hunter nodded at the raised eyebrow Kevin was giving him.

“I'll let you get away, Shawn,” Hunter said, wishing he could say a proper goodbye.

“Call me when you can, or when you're back at your folks, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course,” Hunter promised.

“I love you babe,” Shawn told him, and Hunter's heart clenched.

“Me too,” he told him earnestly, and Shawn laughed down the phone.

“I know,” he said before hanging up.

Hunter replaced the receiver and went to join Kevin and Scott.

“You two, you never stop talking about the business,” Scott said, toasting Hunter with his glass.

Hunter laughed. “Yeah, we don't change much.”

“He misses you,” Kevin said, watching Hunter. “You two were thick as thieves for the whole of the last year.”

“He misses all of us,” Hunter said, trying to deflect Kevin's attention away from him.

“Yeah, he does. But he misses you more,” Kevin stated, and Hunter had to duck his head to stop the flush from reaching his cheeks, before changing the topic. He missed Kevin and Scott exchanging a look.

~

He arrived back home for a couple of days feeling the tiredness that came with wrestling 4 nights in a row and travelling hundreds of miles in between. His muscles ached but his brain was in overdrive; thinking about the matches for the week ahead, character development and how he could train more. Thinking about Shawn.

He'd left for home straight after the house show that night, but it had been a long evening and it was late. The house was dark and quiet, his parents long gone to bed, so he was quiet as he made his way along to his room.

There was a note taped to his door; 'Shawn called, phone him when you get in. Mom x'

Hunter grinned as he peeled the note off his door and dumped his bags in his room. He doubled back to the kitchen to find something to eat (there was a plate left in the fridge for him and he felt a swell of love for his parents) and picked up the handset on his way back. He closed his door, wolfed down the plate of food and was dialling Shawn's home number in minutes.

After their call with Kevin and Scott, they hadn't spoken since, and Hunter felt a little lost without Shawn there. He hadn't realised how intertwined their lives had become over the past year.

The phone seemed to ring forever before Shawn answered.

“Hello?” He sounded barely awake, his voice slurring with sleep and cracking a little.

“Hey, it's me. Sorry, did I wake you?”

There was the sound of a yawn on the other end of the line and the rustle of sheets in the background. “You're back late,” Shawn said eventually.

“I drove back, it took longer than I thought,” Hunter explained, kicking off his shoes and settling back on his bed.

“How's your week been?”

“Exhausting,” Hunter said, laughing. “I feel like I've been off the tour for months, not just a couple of weeks.”

“You just need to settle back in. Nash said you were doing well,” Shawn told him.

“You checking up on me, Michaels?” Hunter asked, smiling.

“Nah, Kev phoned me earlier. He chose to fly home, meant he was there quicker,” Shawn replied.

“Yeah well, Kev's earning a heck of a lot more money than me,” Hunter told him and Shawn barked out a laugh. “How was your week?”

“I super-kicked some people, Vince got annoyed at me, I got yelled at, the usual.”

“What did you do to make Vince yell at you?”

“Nothing, I swear!”

“Shawn,” Hunter said and he could almost hear Shawn's smile.

“I swear, I just got a little out of hand with the celebrating. I lost my shirt a little.”

“Uh huh?”

“Yeah,” Shawn said and Hunter shook his head.

“Don't be getting into trouble without me there to come and bail you out,” he said.

“You expect me to not get into trouble for an indefinite amount of time?”

“Yeah, okay, that's not going to work,” Hunter conceded. “Just try not to get into too much trouble?”

“Only because you asked,” Shawn said and Hunter laughed.

“So what's your schedule like next week?”

“Fly out to Manitoba, then Wisconsin, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, I've lost track. We finish in Pittsburg. Where are you?”

“North Carolina next week, then into Maryland, so we're just a state apart.”

“When do you finish in Maryland, the Thursday?” Shawn asked.

“Yeah, I'm straight through until the last house show Thursday evening.”

“Just one state line away from each other; we should meet up?”

“Yes please,” Hunter said, probably too fast and too eager.

“Then we'll meet up. Don't go home, we'll meet halfway, get a hotel yeah? Just the two of us.”

“Yeah, yeah, that sounds... that sounds great,” Hunter told him. “I've missed you.”

“Two weeks babe, two weeks and I'll see you again,” Shawn said and Hunter sighed.

“It feels like forever. Two weeks; fourteen days.”

“You'll keep yourself busy, you'll be on the road for most of it.”

“I'll have my own room as well, so we could speak more often?”

“Yeah? That's a reason to head back to the hotel after the show,” Shawn said.

“Whatever I can do to keep you out of trouble,” Hunter told him and Shawn laughed before he trailed off into another yawn.

“Okay, go back to sleep. It sounds like you need it,” Hunter said, feeling the exhaustion start to creep up on him as well. “I'll speak to you later, and I'll see you soon.”

“Yeah soon,” Shawn mumbled, and Hunter could tell he was already falling back to sleep.

“Love you, now hang up the phone,” he told him, and Shawn managed to return his own assurance of love before the dial tone hit.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's reading so far!

The life of a professional wrestler was not a glamorous one, no matter what people made it out to be. It was exhausting to drag your sore and bruised body out of bed each morning and force yourself to train, it was tough living out of a suitcase for days on end, and using laundromats or hotel services if you were staying in a decent place, trying to plan ahead and prioritising your ring gear over your own clothes. You lived off catering food, or diner food, coffee that burnt the taste buds off your tongue, protein shakes to keep your energy up. There were endless locker rooms, communal showers, open bags of toiletries all over the place, squabbles over laces, boots, the right bench to put your own bag down.

There were those that drank, that took drugs, that slept with the girls that hung around after the shows. Hunter had always been straight; he wanted to earn his body, earn the right to how he looked. Drink and drugs had always eaten into the time he could have spent in the gym. He disliked how his friends acted when they drank, how they lost control. He wanted to have his wits about him.

Sitting in endless bars after shows, or in canteens, or in hotel rooms if the town they were in was really shit, was just another factor of the wrestling life. It wasn't an aspect that Hunter loved. If it was up to him, he'd rather be sitting around discussing the business, discussing moves, discussing moving forward and how to improve, picking the brains of those around him and soaking it all up. But when wrestlers got together, more often than not they drank. And though conversations usually started about the business, when that second or third beer hit, when that next round of shots came round, those conversations died away.

He was used to it now; he knew that he was in a minority of how he wanted to spend his evenings, and it usually didn't bother him. Only when he was at the end of his rope, when he was tired, in pain, did he leave early.

They were drinking in the hotel bar, on the final night of their near two week stint. Kevin and Scott, as the top dogs, had only come along for a few of the house shows but Hunter had been with the rest of the roster for 11 days and he was tired.

He'd been on the televised show twice now, and both his matches had gone well. The crowd reaction to him had been positive, they'd enjoyed what he was selling and even Bischoff had given some begrudging praise. He was scheduled in to wrestle Pat Tanaka as El Gato the following night where they would start a feud. Pat was low-card like Hunter, and they'd spent a little time together, practising in the ring before the house shows and figuring out each other's wrestling styles.

Now though, Hunter was tired. He had one more show to go, one more performance to sell, and then there was three days of Shawn. They'd spoken a couple of times, once with Kev and Scott there, but it had been short conversations, interrupted by others. It had been a tough run for Shawn; he sounded tired as well. Hunter had intended on calling him that night, just to confirm their plans for meeting up one last time. But as soon as he had gotten back to his room, he had sat down on his bed and the next thing he knew was Kevin waking him to go the gym before they hit the road the next morning.

As Nitro started and finished earlier than RAW, and Hunter's match was scheduled second, he had volunteered to drive the 4 hours up the road to Pittsburgh to meet Shawn. Shawn had given him the address of the hotel he was booked in.

The match was good, he and Tanaka worked well together and it was a solid fight. He has stolen the win with a bit of cheating, and he left the arena with the jeers of the crowd ringing solidly in his ears. He showered and packed together his kit, bid farewell to Kev and Scott and, for once, left the arena before the show was finished.

The further he drove from the show, the closer he got to Pittsburgh, he couldn't help but feel he was coming home. Shawn's hotel was fairly near the arena, and he got caught up in the snarl of cars leaving after RAW, so the last few miles were tortuously slow. He finally swung into the car lot of the hotel, and took a deep breath.

Shawn was here. Shawn was just a few minutes walk away. He'd stored most of his luggage safely in the boot so he only had the one bag with him. He just had to make it to Shawn's room without being seen.

This close to the end of a televised show, there was a good chance of most people heading home for a break after two weeks on the road, or already being in a local bar. Hunter pulled his leather jacket on, tucking his hair down the back, and put on a baseball cap to disguise himself as best he could. The lobby was quiet, the receptionist didn't look twice at him as she handed over the waiting key, wishing him a pleasant stay. He got the elevator to himself and made it up to the third floor. The hall was empty, and his footsteps were softened by the carpet as he found the right room. There was the muffled sound of a television playing somewhere nearby but he couldn't work out if it was coming from Shawn's room or not.

He took a breath, and turned the key in the lock.

Inside the room was big; Shawn had splashed out a little as they were going to be staying there a few days. The bedroom was off to the left, an open bag of luggage sitting on one of the two beds. The small lounge area held a sofa and armchair, and there was an open bottle of beer sitting on the coffee table, dripping condensation down onto the wood. The television was on, showing some kind of soap opera in Spanish with the remote lying abandoned on the armchair.

There was the sound of running water and the door to the bathroom opened, Shawn illuminated in the doorway as he caught sight of Hunter.

Hunter couldn't have stopped himself moving towards Shawn even if he had wanted to. It was like they were magnetised to each other. His hands came up to clasp Shawn's face, Shawn's own knocked the cap from his head and pushed under his jacket, grasping at his waist. Hunter felt Shawn breathe his name across his lips before they were kissing.

This right here was home; Shawn smelt of his usual body wash, the taste of beer familiar on his mouth even though Hunter had never drank any of it before. His skin was warm under Hunter's fingers, his hair still a little damp from his earlier shower.

The undercurrent of lust still thrummed in Hunter's bones, but it wasn't as potent as the last time they had met up; this felt more rooted in something. He was relearning what made up Shawn, how he had changed from the last time he had seen him.

Their kissing slowed until they were just standing there, wrapped together, mouths still touching. Hunter opened his eyes to find Shawn watching him, and he leant forward, resting their foreheads together, watching Shawn's smile grow on his face.

“You look like shit,” Shawn told him and Hunter laughed.

“That's the reaction I was looking for,” he replied and Shawn tightened his grip on his waist, still smiling.

“They working you too hard down there?”

“Just trying my best to catch up,” Hunter told him and Shawn made a noise in his throat.

“I'm not over-working myself, I promise. Kev and Scott keep me in line,” Hunter said and Shawn didn't say anything, just watched Hunter. “I promise you, it's just been a long couple of weeks.”

“Okay,” Shawn relented, pressing a kiss to Hunter's mouth. “I believe you.”

His hands came up, pushing insistently at Hunter's jacket and Hunter released Shawn so he could shrug out of it and toss it over the back of the sofa. Hunter sat down on the chair to pull off his boots and then stood to stretch out his back from four hours sitting in a car. Shawn switched the television off, drank the last mouthful of beer and tossed the bottle into the trashcan. He flipped the lock on the door then back moved over to Hunter, hooked his fingers into Hunter's belt loops and gave a gentle tug.

“It's late, I'm taking you to bed,” he said.

Hunter smiled, “I can get on board with that.”

~

When he woke the next morning, he was momentarily confused, wondering where he was. He'd slept heavily, his dreams already forgotten, and he had to lift his head from the pillow and look around him before his brain clicked online.

His gaze landed on Shawn who was sprawled out on his stomach beside him, one arm draped over Hunter's stomach. Last night with Shawn had been beautiful. It had been slow, soft and gentle, the lamp on the bedside table their only light. Shawn had taken him, drawing Hunter's pleasure higher and higher and keeping him there, teasing him until Hunter could take it no more and flipped them over. Shawn had laughed, delighted, and Hunter had taken control, keeping Shawn pinned down and taking them both over the edge. They'd collapsed together and it had been the hardest thing in the world for Hunter to crawl out of bed to fetch a cloth so they could clean up. He'd thrown the cloth in the direction of the bathroom and then Shawn had prodded him into the position that was most comfortable for him and had fallen asleep. Hunter hadn't been far behind him.

He eased out of bed, sliding out from under Shawn's grip slowly so as not to wake him, and headed for the bathroom. When he returned, Shawn was just beginning to wake, his arm reaching out in search of Hunter. His head came up off the bed and he looked round blearily when he couldn't find him.

“Hey?” Shawn blinked over at Hunter. “What are you doing over there?”

Hunter laughed, pushing away from the bathroom door. “I went to use the bathroom. Is that not allowed any more?”

“Not when you leave me alone,” Shawn told him, holding out his hand to him imperiously.

Hunter took the outstretched hand, kissed his knuckles and fingertips and placed it back on the bed before he folded down on the mattress, pushing the sheet a little lower down Shawn's back and kissing his way up Shawn's spine until he was nosing Shawn's hair out of the way and kissing the back of his neck. Shawn was boneless beneath him, warm and pliant, and Hunter eased his way down beside him, smoothing one hand down Shawn's side and curling around his naked hip.

“That right there,” Shawn almost purred under Hunter's touch, “that's why you're not allowed to leave.”

Hunter smiled into the curve of Shawn's shoulder, nipping lightly at the tanned skin beneath him, watching the resulting shiver travel down Shawn's muscles. He pushed Shawn's hair out of the way and tugged at Shawn's ear with his teeth, reaching to place a tiny kiss on the soft skin behind, and Shawn managed to turn his head to face him. They kissed lazily for minutes, unconcerned about the time for once. There was nowhere to be, no one demanding their attention for the next three days.

Hunter flexed his grip on Shawn's hip, moving round to palm his ass and Shawn dropped his head back into the pillow, muffling his groan. Hunter sat up, leaning down to bite at his ear again for a moment.

“Turn over,” he said, the words tickling Shawn's skin, “I want to see you.”

Shawn groaned again, and Hunter smacked at his ass lightly, rubbing over the skin in apology straight after.

“What did you tell me last time?” he said, reaching across to the bedside table where Shawn had tossed the lube last night. “We're not in the middle of Texas now...”

Shawn shot him a glare as he rolled over, and Hunter grinned as he settled down between his thighs, opening the tube and squeezing some out onto his fingers.

“You think you're so funny...” Shawn told him and Hunter leant down, bracing himself on one arm, mouth hovering over Shawn's.

“But you love me anyway,” he said, and then covered Shawn's mouth with his own as his fingers got to work and Shawn moaned long and loud into his mouth.

Shawn was a sweaty, writhing mess when Hunter eventually pulled his fingers away and shuffled forward, one hand gripping Shawn's hip, and pushed in slowly.

Shawn wrenched his mouth from Hunter's and bit down on his shoulder hard, groaning as Hunter's hips met his. Hunter panted, dropping his head to Shawn's chest and taking a moment to breathe. Shawn wrapped his legs around Hunter's waist and kicked him in the back.

“Move,” he managed to get out, and Hunter was blind to obey him. Whatever Shawn wanted, he got as far as Hunter was concerned. He pulled back a few inches and thrust back in and Shawn's breath left him as his head fell back against the pillow. Hunter licked up his neck, tasting his skin, and nipped at his pulse point.

“If you're trying to get me to – fuck, right there – to not make a sound...” he trailed off into a low moan as Hunter shifted his angle and made Shawn's whole body jerk, one hand gripping tightly to Hunter's arm.

“Shh, Shawn,” Hunter managed to grin down at Shawn and Shawn swore loudly. Hunter laughed, and leant down to kiss him, swallowing the profanities Shawn flung at him as he started to pick up his pace.

He balanced on one elbow, his hand going to tangle in Shawn's hair and keep him close, the other gripping Shawn's hip to help with leverage. Shawn bucked underneath him, his hands clawing at Hunter's back as he keened into Hunter's mouth.

Hunter kept on going, losing himself in the feel of Shawn's body and the taste of him in his mouth. Shawn's hair was damp with sweat now, sticking wildly to his forehead, and Hunter couldn't help but kiss him again, on the mouth, his nose, his cheeks.

“Faster,” Shawn panted, his voice cracking in Hunter's ear, and he had to obey, putting his back into it and holding Shawn steady. He could feel Shawn against his stomach, hard and pulsing, and he ground down a little harder, just to hear Shawn keen.

“Hunter,” Shawn ground out, “please, touch me,”

“I am,” Hunter told him, laughing as Shawn kicked him in the kidney.

“Fucking Christ, that's not what I meant,” Shawn said, tipping his head back against the pillow.

Hunter dipped down and kissed at his throat, biting lightly, causing Shawn to groan again.

“Touch yourself,” Hunter said, his ears flushing at the thought of Shawn doing what he told him to. “You want to come, you gotta touch yourself whilst I fuck you.”

Shawn clamped down hard around him and it was Hunter's turn to choke on a moan, muffling the noise against Shawn's skin. Shawn managed to shove an arm down in between their bodies, and Hunter moved back a little so he could watch at the same time, shivering when Shawn arched off the bed at his own touch.

“That's so fucking hot, Shawn.”

“Keep moving,” Shawn told him and grabbed at his ass, pulling him in hard against him. “I swear to God, if you stop now...”

“No stopping now,” Hunter promised, leaning back down to kiss Shawn as his hips moved, feeling Shawn's hand move against his own stomach, driving forward into the sensation.

They spurred each other on, the tension rising, the heat between them burning. Sweat rolled down his forehead, the coil in his stomach wound tighter but he hung on, hung on until Shawn tensed all over for an endless second, until he could feel Shawn coming against him, and he let go, following Shawn over the edge into bliss.

He managed to stop himself from falling right on top of Shawn, catching himself on his elbows, his head dropped down to Shawn's chest, panting heavily. Shawn let his legs fall from around Hunter's waist, eyes closed. Hunter pulled them apart, and rolled to the side, collapsing down, his energy gone. Shawn raised a boneless arm, and flailed it in Hunter's direction until he made contact and pulled him closer, arm awkwardly stuck under Hunter's head.

“Did you just get come in my hair?” Hunter asked and Shawn laughed.

“Other hand,” he said, managing to roll onto his side and press against Hunter. “Relax, I'll help you wash off in the shower.”

“Give me 10 minutes,” Hunter told him, swinging his arm around Shawn's waist. “I need a nap.”

“No way, if we stay like this we'll be stuck together. Come on, big guy,” Shawn rolled away and made for the side of the bed.

Hunter let out a wordless noise of protest, arm reaching after Shawn in a vain attempt to pull him back. Shawn caught his hand and tugged, heaving Hunter into a sitting position.

“Besides, if we get up and go get some food,” Shawn cajoled, helping Hunter stand up and moving them towards the bathroom, “then housekeeping can come and change the sheets and we can go back to bed later.”

“That is the only reason I am moving right now,” Hunter told him, reaching down to press his mouth to Shawn's as they stumbled into the bathroom. “Please tell me you didn't use all the towels last night?”

“I promise I left you one, babe,” Shawn said, and, smacking Hunter on the ass, he got them both into the shower.

~

The day was warm and sunny, summer starting to shine through. They stopped for a late breakfast at a small café, filling up on eggs, bacon, toast and coffee, and enjoying each other's company again. If Hunter closed his eyes, it could be any other day from the last year when they were travelling together, except this time he had finger print shaped bruises around his hip where Shawn had held on earlier.

They decided to give housekeeping a little longer to get their room back in order and change the sheets. They'd both been here a couple of times before, but there was never a chance to explore when you were on tour. Now though, they could wander at leisure. They followed the signs for a park down by the river, weaving through the late morning bustle of a city at work. No one paid them much attention, even though Hunter could barely draw his eyes away from Shawn. He was dressed casually; jeans, t-shirt, boots, the usual string of a necklace around his throat. He'd left his hair down after their shower, and it was curling dry in the sun, framing his face. He had a pair of sunglasses but they were hooked into the neck of his t-shirt, and he'd pulled a cowboy hat out of his luggage to wear, much to Hunter's chagrin. Despite the hat, he looked gorgeous.

Shawn nudged him with his elbow, pointing to something in the park that had taken his attention and Hunter managed to pull himself back together, looking over and replying to Shawn's comment. The look Shawn shot him said his distraction hadn't gone unnoticed, and he put a little sway into his steps as he took the lead down the path towards the river front and the fountain that the sign at the park's entrance had promised.

Hunter pulled his own sunglasses down and, behind their safety, checked out Shawn's ass, letting him walk in front for a few metres before Shawn punched him on the arm and they laughed. Hunter felt strangely light; the freedom of being away from the tour for a day or two, being with Shawn in a city where they didn't know anyone, where no one was paying them any attention, it felt oddly like a holiday.

There was a group of kids, probably aged 12 or 13, all clustered together when they made it to the fountain, clearly there for some kind of day trip, all clutching paper booklets with them, and a harried looking leader trying to get them to listen to what their tour guide was saying.

Shawn gave them a wide berth, leading Hunter round the other side, where the path was wide and spacious and the river flowed beside them. They bumped arms as they walked and Hunter wanted to reach out, to capture Shawn's hand in his own. He knew he couldn't, not when there were eyes everywhere, but he wanted that with Shawn.

Shawn sat down on the wide stone edge, leaning over and dipping his fingers in the water. Hunter stood and watched him watch the water, the sun making the water shimmer in the air. Shawn pulled his hand out and flicked water at Hunter, grinning as he did.

“Thanks,” Hunter said, wiping the water off his face and sitting down as well.

“You looked serious,” Shawn said, turning and hitching his leg up so that the toe of his boot was just touching Hunter's thigh.

“Just enjoying the view,” Hunter told him, and Shawn pressed his boot slightly against Hunter.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, it was a good view,” Hunter said.

“Want to see some more of it?” Shawn asked, and waggled his eyebrows in a ridiculous manner.

Hunter laughed. “Always,” he said and daringly pressed a hand down on Shawn's boot, squeezing at his ankle.

Shawn watched him, before glancing around them. The group of school kids had moved closer, their tour guide still speaking and gesturing at the fountain and park behind them. Hunter let his hand drop, and Shawn shifted, putting both feet back down on the ground, running a hand through his hair.

It was inevitable that one of them recognised Shawn; as the group continued to travel round the fountain to where they were sitting, there was a rise in furious whisperings between the kids and then one managed to work up the courage to call out to Shawn.

Hunter sat back and watched as Shawn became HBK, pulling that cloak of Shawn Michaels around him, raising a hand to the kid, grinning as there was a rush to him, their group leader calling in vain for some kind of order, their tour-guide long forgotten. Pens and information guides that they were supposed to be filling in were thrust in Shawn's direction, and Hunter had to laugh as Shawn managed to sign autographs, throw out a catchphrase or two and speak about the show the night before. A couple of kids were intent on showing Shawn their own wrestling skills, climbing onto the stone edge in preparation of throwing themselves off it before the group leader managed to sternly regain control. She gave Shawn a dirty look, as if this was all his fault, as she began shepherding the kids away. Shawn called a cheery goodbye to the kids, high-fived the last of the group, and blew the leader a kiss.

Hunter ducked his head as he laughed; it was such typical HBK behaviour.

“You're a dick,” he told Shawn and Shawn grinned.

“That's why they love me,” he said, and Hunter had to agree with that.

They left the park after that, taking a different path from the group, and heading back into the city. They walked round some more, window shopping for anything and everything, got lost on the way back to the hotel, stopped in a store for some food to take back with them and eventually found their way back. Hunter wanted to head to the gym, so Shawn agreed to arrange lunch on the promise that Hunter would be back in 90 minutes.

He slipped into the room, 5 minutes late, but Shawn let him have his lunch after Hunter had kissed him in apology.

Their afternoon was spent under the pretence of watching sport, but in reality, they spent hours lying on together on the bed, talking, kissing, napping, reconnecting, whilst the television played in the background, completely ignored.

Shawn took them out for dinner that night, having charmed the receptionist into getting him a reservation at a decent restaurant earlier. They dressed up a little, actually using the little hotel iron to try and remove some of the stubborn wrinkles from well-creased shirts that had spent days in cases. They walked to the restaurant and it was liberating pretending to just be normal people, two friends out for dinner together and catching up. The food was good; some of the best Hunter had had whilst travelling, and Shawn only had two beers with his steak. Hunter knocked his knee with Shawn's under the cover of the table in appreciation. They declined dessert, and strolled back, taking a different route, and enjoying the city in the summer. The streets were busy for a Tuesday evening, but not overwhelmingly so, just enough to give the city a nice bustle.

When they made it back to the hotel, Shawn stripped them both out of their clothes, laid Hunter on the bed and proceeded to kiss him all over, pushing and pulling him to wherever he wanted. Hunter let him, for a little while, then pushed back. They kissed for what felt like hours, their own private wrestling match as they twisted together, tangling the sheets between their legs until Hunter had enough and kicked them off the bed. Shawn used his momentarily distraction to his advantage, pushing Hunter onto his back and taking charge once again. Hunter let him this time, let Shawn lead so he could follow, basking in Shawn's attention being focused only on him.

They lay together afterwards, facing each other on their sides with the air-conditioning unit humming in the background, the bed sheets still in a heap on the floor.

“Good day?” Shawn asked, his fingers tapping a rhythm on the mattress between them.

Hunter smiled, slow and wide. “Best day,” he said, reaching out a hand to rest over Shawn's heart. “A good first date.”

Shawn's heart jumped beneath his hand. “You mean I put out before our first date?”

Hunter laughed. “Hate to break it to you, but you put out a lot.”

Shawn's eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled back at Hunter. “So did you,” he said and Hunter nodded.

“You're special that way,” he said, leaning in and kissing him softly.

“Same again tomorrow?” Shawn asked, whispering the words against Hunter's mouth.

“Yes please.”


	6. Chapter 6

Leaving Shawn never got any easier. Hunter had been the one to leave first this time, his flight down to Orlando having the earlier start. They hadn't slept much the night before, like they were both determined to be with each other for as long as possible. Hunter had been the one to slide out of bed before Shawn, showering and finishing their packing before Shawn had even started to stir. He had found one of his own t-shirts stuffed down the side of one of Shawn's bags, and he hadn't the heart to relocate it to his own luggage.

He was sitting lacing up his shoes when there was finally movement from the bed. Shawn never looked so beautiful as he did first thing in the morning, naked against white sheets. He cursed against the lights briefly before catching sight of Hunter, fully dressed and the room packed up around him.

“You gotta go already?” he asked, his voice still scratchy from sleep.

“Yeah, sorry gorgeous. Flight leaves soon.”

Shawn made a disgruntled noise, and Hunter went to sit down on the bed beside him. He stroked a hand down Shawn's back, and Shawn arched up into it like a cat. Hunter pressed a kiss to the bare shoulder beneath him and Shawn struggled up into a sitting position, his hair a riot around his shoulders.

Hunter petted it back into some kind of order and Shawn leaned in, demanding a kiss.

“I love you,” Hunter said, cupping the back of Shawn's head.

“I love you,” Shawn replied, kissing him again.

“Be safe, yeah?”

“You too,” Shawn said and Hunter leant in, kissing him one more time.

Shawn sighed as Hunter sat back, and Hunter frowned, peering at Shawn a little closer. “You okay?” he asked.

Shawn nodded, looking up at Hunter. “Yeah, just sad you're going.”

“I'll see you soon,” Hunter promised, reluctantly standing up and gathering his stuff together.

Shawn managed to smile at him, though it looked a little forced. Sat reclined against the headboard, with the sheets pooled around his waist, he looked beautiful. Hunter wanted to stop, wanted to get back into bed, wanted to really make sure Shawn was okay, but time was ticking away and he couldn't miss his flight.

“I'll see you soon,” he said again, willing Shawn to believe him.

“I know,” Shawn said, “you gotta get your flight babe. Go.”

“Okay,” Hunter nodded but didn't move from the door until Shawn sighed and spread his arms out.

“I'll be fine, I promise. Go.” He shooed Hunter away, towards the door.

Hunter went, but his stomach curdled at the thought of leaving Shawn like this; Shawn didn't look okay. As the door shut, Shawn looked lost and alone, sitting in the large bed, staring out into nothing.

~

Hunter managed to speak to Shawn that afternoon and he sounded better, though Hunter wasn't entirely convinced. Still, he had to trust Shawn, and as he was stuck down in Florida for the next month, there wasn't much chance to physically check up on him. Kevin and Scott mentioned Shawn from time to time, obviously keeping in touch with him themselves, and they didn't raise any concerns that were out of the ordinary which calmed him a little. Hunter knew Shawn went out drinking most nights with other guys on the roster; there was sometimes a slur to his voice if he called Hunter late at night, but that wasn't new. Shawn liked a drink after the show; it was a coping mechanism for him. Hunter didn't like that he wasn't there to make sure Shawn got home safely, but it was just another facet of life that they would have to live with.

His presence on WCW grew steadily; his feud with Tanaka had found some ground and they were both enjoying a series of matches on television that were getting good feedback from the crowd. Hunter felt some stability with his character; it hadn't clicked fully yet, and he wasn't sure where he was really heading, but he had a grasp. He had Kevin and Scott guiding him, Shawn's encouragement over a phone line, the belief in himself and the work ethic to prove it.

He didn't see Shawn in person for over a month. He watched him on television, marvelled over his skill in the ring, and followed his story lines closely. It was a poor substitute for having him there but he'd take what he could get. They'd been in the same airport on one occasion, only missing each other by minutes, and it had been the first time Hunter had seriously thought about ditching his flight and trying to catch Shawn.

They'd both bitten the bullet and invested in mobile phones; bulky things with buttons that were too small for Hunter to use properly, but it did mean they could keep in better contact. It was nice to be able to speak to Shawn whilst he waited in another airport lounge, for another plane, to another wrestling ring. Shawn called him when he was on long drives, and he was passed around the car to speak to the whole Kliq and it felt a little like old times. He sometimes woke to a jumble of letters and words from Shawn after a night out, and he'd spend the next few hours trying to figure out what Shawn had been trying to tell him.

The physical separation was hard; Hunter felt the strain, the longing to have someone to come home to. He wasn't tempted by any of the girls who hung around the locker room, didn't want that one night of pleasure; he wanted Shawn and he wanted him for the long run. He knew Shawn was a physical person by nature and he craved company; they'd had an awkward conversation one night where they both tried to enquire if the other had been with someone else during their time apart. It had been the closest thing they'd had to a fight, Shawn feeling defensive, Hunter feeling guilty, both unwilling to actually talk about it. Shawn had told him to fuck off and hung up on him when Hunter had tried to tell him he could understand if Shawn sought company somewhere else.

He'd phoned back an hour and four beers later, and Hunter had spent the rest of the night apologising, until Shawn had threatened to hang up on him again. They'd reached an uneasy balance with neither really sure what the outcome of their talk had been about, or why they had felt they needed it in the first place.

In August, Shawn had a week off. RAW had been taped from the previous week, and he had a full week of no commitments. It was the closest thing he had had to a summer vacation.

Hunter didn't. They were in Wyoming, on a string of house shows interspersed with Nitro recordings. He looked hard for a slot where he could go see Shawn, but his schedule was jammed.

“I'll come to you?” Shawn had offered one night.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, come see you, Nash and Hall. It'll be like old times.”

It was decided; Shawn told Kevin and took it from there. He'd come for a couple of days before heading back home to Texas. He wouldn't come to the shows, Vince would hit the roof if he found his star performer backstage with WCW, but he'd stay at the same hotel and they would catch up, all four of them back together again.

Reuniting with Shawn with Kevin and Scott there was almost torture to Hunter. He hung back a step as Shawn rose to greet them at the hotel bar, watching him greet Kev first, then Hall, enveloped in hugs from both of them. He drank in the sight of him; he looked a little tired, a little worn at the edges that happened when he hadn't rested properly and he was favouring his right leg, his stance just off from normal. Shawn grinned at him as he turned away from Scott, opening his arms and Hunter stepped in to a hug that was far too brief, far too impersonal. Shawn squeezed his shoulder as they pulled apart, and Hunter clung to that small contact.

They moved to sit at one of the small square tables just a little out of the way of the main entrance and Hunter went to get the first round; 3 beers and water for himself. He sat down opposite Shawn and doled out the drinks to each of them, and they all toasted each other silently for a moment, enjoying being back in each other's company again.

It was like old times; the conversation flowed as normal, as did the drinks. Some of the other roster members came over briefly, old acquaintances and friends, stopping by to greet Shawn, or speak to one of them. Hunter introduced Tanaka to Shawn and they spoke for a few minutes about their feud with Shawn offering his own opinion.

It was late when they took pity on the poor bartender and headed for the elevators.

“What room did you get me?” Shawn asked as they trooped into an elevator, and Hunter blinked, looking at Kevin and Scott who looked just as confused.

“I thought you were getting yourself a room?” Hunter said.

“No, I booked the flight, you were booking the room,” Shawn told him, leaning against the cool metal of the elevator.

“We never agreed that,” Hunter said, as Kev started laughing.

“You always book the rooms when we travel,” Shawn stated, looking to Scott for back up.

“That is true, you usually do book the rooms,” Scott said, grinning.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Hunter couldn't help but laugh as well. “You managed to get a flight, book a car but you didn't think to book a room?”

“I thought this was all about old times, Hunts,” Shawn said, reaching out to kick his ankle. “Old times is you booking the hotel room. Looks like I'm bunking in with you then.”

“And there's your punishment,” Kev said to Hunter, “you can deal with his snoring.”

“Good luck with that, especially after he's been drinking,” Scott added.

“Still not as bad as you, Nash,” Shawn fired back, and it dissolved into general name calling and fake punching until they reached their rooms. They split off, Shawn waving to Scott as Hunter unlocked the door.

“Nice excuse,” Hunter told him as he helped Shawn with his bag through the door.

“What?” Shawn asked, shutting the door firmly behind him.

“About the room?”

“Oh, yeah, not an excuse. I didn't get a room here, thought you were organising it,” Shawn grinned as Hunter dropped his head into his hands. “But hey, it worked out pretty good in the end!”

Hunter pulled Shawn into him wrapping his arms around his waist and pressing their heads together.

“You are impossible. Hi by the way.”

“Hi,” Shawn kissed him, holding on as Hunter kissed back.

“That was torture down there in the bar. I wanted to touch you, kiss you, had to settle for staring at you instead,” Hunter told him, reaching one hand down to squeeze at his ass through his jeans.

“I'm here now, touch me all you want now,” Shawn said.

“I will,” Hunter replied, and he did.

~

Hunter woke early the next morning, wrapped up around Shawn in the small twin bed. It wasn't the comfiest, but he had Shawn back with him so he'd slept soundly, content and happy with his life. Shawn was sprawled out over Hunter, using him as a pillow, breathing heavily in sleep. He lay there for a while, enjoying the presence of Shawn beside him until his responsibilities for the day ahead got the better of him. Shawn was the only one not working; he could afford to laze around in bed. Hunter, on the other hand, had to work.

He shifted, moving Shawn off him as gently as possible. Shawn mumbled his discontent, reaching out to grab at Hunter as he went to stand up.

“No,” Shawn managed to say, both eyes still closed.

“I gotta,” Hunter leant down and pressed a kiss to Shawn's head. “I'm gonna head to the gym, leave you to sleep some more, and when I get back, you can take me back to bed.”

Shawn opened one eye, peering up at him. “You promise?”

“I promise,” Hunter told him seriously.

“Okay,” Shawn yawned, letting Hunter go and settling back down on the pillow Hunter had just vacated. “Go, and come back to me sooner.”

Hunter went. The gym was quiet; he thought Kevin might join him as they usually did, but he didn't appear. A solid couple of hours left him aching and tired in a good way, and he gathered his things to head back up to Shawn.

He thought he might still have been in bed, he had looked tired the night before, but the bed was empty, there was the sound of the shower running and Shawn's offkey singing coming from the bathroom.

Hunter stripped off his t-shirt and shorts, throwing them in the laundry pile he had started in the corner of the room, and followed Shawn's voice.

Shawn yelped as he pulled back the curtain, almost slipping on the wet tile as Hunter climbed into the shower with him.

“Fucking Christ, I almost had a heart attack,” Shawn said, smacking him in the chest with one soapy hand.

“I thought you were gonna take me back to bed when I got back?” Hunter asked, reaching out to touch Shawn under the running water.

“I was, that was the full plan, but Kev came and woke me up. We're going to breakfast in twenty minutes,” Shawn explained, pushing wet hair out of his eyes.

“So we'll have to kill two birds with one stone; sex and showering at the same time,” Hunter said thoughtfully.

Shawn's eyes lit up. “You're a genius, Hunts!”

Shower sex, it turned out, was difficult. Shawn almost slipped and cracked his head open on the tile twice, Hunter nearly wrenched his arm out of socket catching him, and Shawn was too slippery for Hunter to hold on to him properly. They compromised by pressing together, kissing furiously as they jerked each other off. By the time they'd finished and managed to wash each other clean their time was nearly up.

Shawn was pulling on his jeans when there was a knock on the door. Hunter, still naked and brushing his teeth in the bathroom, gave Shawn a look.

“I'll get it then, shall I?” Shawn asked and Hunter grinned at him, mouth full of foam.

“Chuck me some clothes will you?”

Shawn rooted around in one of the bags at the end of the bed, throwing clothes to Hunter and finding a shirt for himself as he went to answer the door.

Hunter kicked the door shut, finished brushing his teeth, and took a leak, before changing. He grabbed a towel to dry his hair, and went back into the main room, calling hello to the others who were standing waiting. He gave up on his hair, pulled it into a ponytail, and shoved his feet into his shoes before the haranguing from the others could reach fever pitch. Kev got whiny when he was hungry. He grabbed his wallet and they headed out, Shawn patting his ass and giving him a look as they followed Scott and Kev out the door.

They spent the morning all together, before Hunter headed down to the arena after lunch to get in some practice in the ring. Kevin and Scott weren't wrestling at tonight's show but they'd joined the tour again for the next night, a bigger arena with a bigger audience, so they stayed with Shawn. Sometimes it did grate Hunter that the others were all more established, held more power in their respective companies than he did. He felt he'd perpetually be the underdog, the one scrapping and fighting for his spot. He didn't begrudge them; they'd all worked hard to get where they were and they deserved it. He loved the work, and had no issue working his way up there, but to get some stability seemed like a far off dream some days.

He stayed at the arena for the rest of the day, grabbing some food from catering to fuel himself for the evening and joining the main locker room, taking a seat next to Tanaka.

“Shawn looking to join WCW?” Tanaka asked, and Hunter laughed.

“Nah, just wanted to catch up with his buddies,” Hunter replied, digging for tape in his bag. He made a mental note to do some laundry tomorrow or he'd be wrestling in his pants.

“Shame, I'd love to wrestle him. Some of the things he does...”

Hunter had to agree.

~

His match hadn't been his best; he and Tanaka didn't seem to be on the same page, and they had miscommunicated at one point which had ended in Hunter almost twisting his knee as he tripped backwards over Tanaka. The crowd had been okay, but they weren't that interested in Hunter's match and the atmosphere had felt flat. They'd tried their best but sometimes it just didn't happen.

Tanaka commiserated with him in the locker room for a few moments before Hunter managed to escape to the shower to help clear his head. He packed his stuff and headed back to the hotel still feeling annoyed at the poor show he had put on.

Shawn had text him to say they were drinking in Kevin's room, and at that moment Hunter considered just heading back to his own room and going to sleep. It was only a brief passing thought, but he still felt guilty. Shawn had travelled here on his own precious days off, Kevin and Scott had only been supportive of him, he needed to get himself together and get along to his friends.

He dropped his bag off in his room, and headed down the hall, knocking on Kevin's door. Scott let him in, and a space had been left for him beside Shawn on the sofa. There was the detritus of a card game on the table next to the small kitchenette, and numerous empty bottles and cans as well. Hunter grabbed a bottle of water from the minibar and slumped down next to Shawn, knocking their knees together for a moment.

Shawn tipped his head back to look at him. “Alright?”

“Didn't have a good match, crowd weren't there either,” Hunter said, cracking open the water and taking a long drink.

“Don't over think it,” Scott advised, “sometimes it just happens.”

“You hurt yourself?” Kevin asked, and Hunter dropped his hand to his knee.

“No, thought I'd twisted it at one point but seems to be okay.”

“So you chalk it up to experience and move on,” Kevin said, pointing with his beer bottle to emphasis his point.

Shawn dropped his own hand to cover Hunter's on his knee. “And seriously, stop over thinking it; I know you, Hunts.”

Hunter laughed a little. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Still sucks.”

The others picked up on his mood and wisely left him to stew for a little while. Sometimes he just needed to get lost in his own brain to reach his own conclusions and get himself out of his funk. They were all used to each other's little peculiarities, and the other three continued to talk as normal, not trying to engage Hunter until he started to insert himself into the conversation. Shawn left his hand on Hunter's knee and no one seemed to comment on it.

Hunter hauled Shawn up just after midnight, looping his arm over his shoulders and steadying him with an arm around the waist.

“We'll see you tomorrow morning for breakfast?” he asked, Shawn leaning against him.

“Yeah, nine am downstairs, and we'll checkout at the same time,” Kevin said as Scott followed them to the door, his room opposite Kevin's.

Shawn was at the happy and tired stage of drunk; in the company of family his drinking was more controlled and he stuck with beer instead of the spirits that he sometimes hit with other members of the roster. He didn't really need Hunter's help to walk, but it was easier this way to keep him on track as they made the short trip down to their room.

Inside, Hunter deposited Shawn on the bed, kneeling down to pull off his boots and then stripping his jeans off him. He went to the bathroom and got a glass of water to put on Shawn's side of the bed, then got himself changed for bed. Shawn was already half asleep, but he curled automatically into Hunter when he got into bed beside him, tucking himself up against Hunter.

Hunter wrapped an arm around him and kissed him on the forehead, sighing as he finally relaxed.

“Stop thinking,” Shawn mumbled, raising a heavy hand to tap Hunter vaguely on the head.

Hunter caught his hand and guided it safely back down to the bed before he could smack himself in the face. “I'm trying,” Hunter told him softly, like it was a secret.

“One bad match, that's it,” Shawn yawned loudly, and butted his head against Hunter's chest. “It's fine.”

“Go to sleep,” Hunter told him, smiling fondly.

“Can't sleep if I can hear your brain working,” Shawn said but his eyes were now fully closed and his body was relaxing. Hunter kept quiet for a while, watching as Shawn slid into sleep. It was comforting to have him here; without him Hunter knew he would have struggled to keep his mind away from the ring. But with Shawn's weight against his side, and the sound of his breathing, it was a lot easier to let the day slide away.

He woke the next morning when Shawn got up to use the bathroom. Hunter rolled into the warm space Shawn had left behind, and closed his eyes, hoping to get back to sleep for a little longer. Shawn climbed back into bed a few minutes later, spooning up against Hunter and kissing his shoulder.

“You awake?” Shawn asked, and Hunter grunted into his pillow in reply.

He could feel Shawn's grin against his skin and he kicked his foot back gently in retaliation.

Shawn ran his hand down Hunter's chest, until he reached his crotch. “Ah see, you are awake!” he crowed and Hunter sighed, giving up the pretence of having any more sleep.

“Well I'm awake now,” he told Shawn. “What time is it?”

Shawn peered over his shoulder at the clock on the night stand. “Little after 7.30.”

“What are you doing awake this early?”

“I needed to pee, and then when I got back, I found this hunk of muscle in my bed and thought there were more exciting things than sleep to be doing this morning.”

Hunter couldn't help himself as he laughed. “Yeah? And what would you rather be doing?”

“Oh babe, that's such an easy one. I'd rather be doing you.”

Hunter laughed again as Shawn rolled him over and straddled him, his face open and easy with his affection as he leant down to kiss him.

“I missed you yesterday,” Shawn told him, running his hands over Hunter's chest as he spoke.

“I saw you in the morning,” Hunter said, gripping Shawn's waist and looking up at him.

“I know, but then you weren't there the whole rest of the day,” Shawn said.

“You got me now,” Hunter said, reaching up to pull Shawn down to him. “You got me now, you got me for as long as you want me.”

“For as long as I want you?” Shawn asked.

“For as long as you want me,” Hunter confirmed. “I swear.”

“Good.”

Shawn kissed him fiercely, hands gripping tight on Hunter as he arched up underneath Shawn, pressing their bodies together. Shawn pushed Hunter down, pressing him into the bed. Hunter let Shawn lead, let him dictate the pace, following him eagerly on the dance that Shawn led.

At the end they were both panting heavily, still twisted together and touching at every available point. Hunter wrapped his hand into Shawn's hair and brought their mouths together, kissing lazily.

“I love you,” Hunter told him. “I love you so much. Everything I'm doing is to get back to you.”

Shawn pressed his body closer to Hunter's, as if he was trying to soak up Hunter's words. “I know, I do. I love you too. And I'm fucking proud of you and what you're doing.”

“So we're good, yeah?” Hunter asked.

Shawn paused, and Hunter's stomach turned over.

“It's hard,” he said, looking past Hunter at the wall behind him. “It's really hard not to have you near me all the time. I miss you.”

“Shawn, I miss you too,” Hunter said, struggling to sit up a little.

“I know,” Shawn said, glancing at him and placing a hand on Hunter's chest. “I know. I love you, I do, but to only see you once every month or so...” he trailed off, shrugging. “It's really difficult.”

Hunter felt cold, like an ice cube had formed in his stomach and was spreading out through his veins.

“I don't... Shawn, what-” Hunter felt like he was floundering, the world whipped out from under his feet so suddenly from where he had been that he was left free falling without a tether.

“Kev thinks we're fucking,” Shawn interrupted him, still looking at the fucking wall behind Hunter, and Hunter's head swam. He felt like he had whiplash from the information Shawn was throwing at him. “He's going to talk to you later about it.”

“What...”

“Him and Scott were talking about it.” He shrugged. “I overheard them when I went to the bathroom.”

“Shawn, Christ, give me a second here-” Hunter reached out for him, needing something to ground him.

Shawn pushed away, rolling out of bed and standing up, stretching his hands to the ceiling. He was the most beautiful thing Hunter had ever seen.

“I'm gonna go grab a shower, we've got to meet the guys in a half hour.”

“Shawn, wait, come back. What you've just said, with us. Wait! Where does this leave us?”

“I need to do some thinking,” Shawn said, finally looking at Hunter for a brief second before his gaze skittered away. “We'll talk later, yeah?”

And he walked into the bathroom and shut the door.


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the morning passed in a daze for Hunter. He showered, packed up his stuff, and Shawn's, and they met up with Kevin and Scott, ate breakfast, and all got into the car to drive. Shawn wasn't exactly distant; he kissed Hunter's cheek as they passed each other in the bathroom, and he sat next to him at breakfast, his leg pressed up against Hunter's in the small booth, but there was a currant of tension running beneath their interactions.

Hunter managed to make it through on auto-pilot, chatting with Scott, disagreeing about directions with Kevin, snarking at Shawn when he tried to help from the back seat; but he felt like he was running 50% slower than usual. He wasn't sure he was the best person to be driving, but it would look odd if he said he didn't want to, and it was only a short distance down the road to the next town.

When they got to their hotel, Hunter dropped them all off, and went straight to the gym, waving off the curious look from Kevin. He needed some time alone to process what had happened. Everything had been going so well; they'd been reunited, they'd just slept together and then suddenly Shawn was pulling away, telling him he wasn't sure they were going to work, and telling him that Kevin thought they were fucking. And if Kevin thought they were fucking, Scott thought it as well.

The most pressing issue was Shawn. He didn't care right now what Kevin or Scott thought. His only concern was that Shawn was apparently rethinking their relationship. Shawn was only here for another day before he went back to Texas, and then Hunter wouldn't see him for god knew how long. That was if Shawn even agreed to meet up with him after he had done his thinking.

He took his frustrations out on the punching bag, hitting it solidly until his hands really started to protest. He spent some time on the weights, moved to the treadmill and crossfit for a while but he knew he was just putting off going back and seeing Shawn. He showered at the gym, pulling on some clean clothes from his bag. His phone blinked at him showing he had messages waiting to be read, but he didn't want to look at them just yet.

He checked in back at the hotel, and dropped off his bags before going to do some laundry. The small utility room in the hotel was quiet and warm, the lingering smell of detergent and fabric softener prevailing in the air.

While the washing machine rumbled to life, Hunter sat on the lone, small chair, and pulled his phone out his pocket. There was a message from Kevin about heading to the arena that night, and two from Shawn.

_I'm in room 324_

_Let me know when you're back?_

Hunter stared down at them; two little messages that looked normal. They looked like the kind of messages they'd have sent to each other only hours ago. What had changed? As he stared, his phone vibrated in his hand and a new message came through from Shawn.

_Can we talk?_

His laundry still had 30 minutes to go, and he wasn't quite ready to face Shawn yet so he tucked his phone back into his pocket and watched his wrestling gear spin round and round in the soapy water.

After he'd put everything into the dryer and set the dial, he opened his phone again and text Shawn back.

_Doing laundry. Be there in 20 mins._

Shawn text back almost immediately.

_You eaten? I'll get lunch_

_Not hungry_

_I'll still get food_

Hunter didn't reply after that, just put his phone back in his pocket and listened to the dryer spin.

When he got to Shawn's room he paused outside the door, psyching himself up to go in. It took someone else coming down the corridor for him to actually lift his hand and knock. There was the sound of movement on the other side of the door, and then Shawn was pulling it open, looking relieved when he saw it was Hunter.

“Hey, come on in,” he said, standing back to let Hunter in.

There was a pile of sandwiches on the table, with drinks, and Hunter just looked at it.

“I wasn't sure what you would want,” Shawn explained, coming up beside him, “so I got a selection.”

“Thanks,” Hunter said, sitting down on the sofa and reaching for a sandwich blindly. He took a bite but couldn't really taste anything.

“You wanted to talk?” Hunter asked, reaching for a bottle of juice to help wash the sandwich down.

Shawn nodded, still standing, and looking oddly nervous. “Yeah, I do.”

“If you're going to end things between us, just get it over with,” Hunter said, gripping the plastic bottle tightly.

“No, I'm not... this is hard,” he explained, carefully sitting down on the table opposite Hunter.

Hunter looked at him briefly before focusing on the sandwich in his hand.

“I'm sorry about this morning, about what I said.”

Hunter nodded. “Okay. You still said it though. Did you mean it?”

“Yes.”

Hunter physically flinched, leaning back away from Shawn. It felt like his heart was breaking.

“Wait!” Shawn reached forward, like he was afraid Hunter was going to disappear. “Wait, let me try to explain. I can't get the words right for this.”

“Just fucking try, please.”

Shawn took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, Hunter, I love you. You know that, I really fucking love you. And I do find it hard not to see you all the time. You were there for me for a whole year, every day in and out. And to now have you but not get to see you every day really fucks me up.”

“You think it doesn't affect me too?” Hunter asked him, tossing the half-eaten sandwich back on the table. “You think I don't feel exactly like you feel?”

“No,” Shawn said, “I get you feel that way too.”

“Shawn, we said we'd work this out, together. And now you're going around dropping bombshells on me; you don't know if we're good, Kevin thinks we're fucking and is gonna talk to me about it – then you fuck off into the shower and leave me hanging.”

“You know me, you know I'm fucked up, you're supposed to know I'll do this shit.” Shawn's words were defensive.

“I'm not a fucking mind-reader!” Hunter snarled back. “I can't just magically understand what's going on in that head of yours. You need to help me here, Shawn. What are you trying to say?”

“I don't know!” Shawn threw his hands up in the air. “I love you, I fucking hate that you can't be with me all the goddamn time, and I don't know what to do.”

“Right, well if you figure it out, you let me know.” Hunter stood. “Because apparently I don't have any say in this conversation.”

“I want you to have a say!” Shawn said, standing as well. “You have to help me work this out.”

“Then you have to talk to me!”

“That's what I'm trying to do!” Shawn yelled back, before glancing at the door guiltily.

Hunter deflated, sinking back down onto the couch, his hands fisted in his hair.

The room was quiet for a moment, just the sound of their harsh breathing.

“Maybe you need some more thinking time, Shawn. Because I don't know what to say. I'm trying here, I'm really fucking trying, I'm looking for times when I can come see you, I'm phoning you as much as I can, I'm trying to keep this going.”

“I am as well,” Shawn said.

“Yeah, but if you're even thinking this is too hard for you, what else can I do to change your mind?”

Shawn sat down heavily opposite him again, looking defeated for once. “I don't know.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Hunter replied. “Me neither.” He looked at Shawn, and he'd never felt this tired. “So maybe you need to think seriously if this is something you want. Because I can't do it all myself.”

Shawn nodded, looking pained. “I know, I'm sorry.”

Hunter shrugged. “It is what it is.” He felt empty, defeated inside, and he needed to get out of there. For the first time, he needed to get away from Shawn's presence. “I'm gonna go, head down to the arena. Tell Kev and Scott I can come pick them up later if they want.”

Shawn nodded again. “Okay.”

He stood when Hunter did, and they were so close together that Hunter couldn't resist, couldn't stop giving into temptation one last time.

He leant forward and pressed his mouth to Shawn's, kissing him. Shawn's hand came up to cup his cheek, that one light hold keeping Hunter from moving away. It felt right. It felt so natural. It felt like they were saying goodbye.

Hunter moved back a little, and Shawn chased him for a second before he pulled himself together.

“Sorry,” Hunter said, “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that.”

“It's okay,” Shawn told him, his hand falling from Hunter's face. “I do love you, Hunter.”

“And you know I love you.”

Shawn nodded. “I know.”

“Okay, okay,” Hunter stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at the door. “I'm gonna go.”

“Take some food, you've barely eaten today,” Shawn thrust one of the bags full of sandwiches at him and Hunter took it automatically.

“Thanks.”

He waited for Shawn for a moment; he clearly had something else he was trying to say.

“I'm gonna change my flight and fly back to Texas tomorrow. Do some thinking. I'll tell you all later, some family thing has come up or something, but I wanted you to know first.”

Hunter managed to breathe through the tight knot in his chest, tried to stay calm. He had sensed something like this was coming.

“Okay, yeah, makes sense.” His heart felt like it was breaking. “I'll see you later.”

He left Shawn standing in the middle of his hotel room, rushing to get out of there and down to the car, hoping the fresh air would help him breathe again. 

It didn't help at all.

~

He managed to steer clear of any potentially awkward conversations with Kevin and Scott that evening. He concentrated on the ring, on his match, on the crowd, on anything to take his mind off Shawn leaving tomorrow.

The car ride back to the hotel was quiet and strained. Kevin and Scott seemed to be having some kind of silent conversation with their eyebrows, picking up on Hunter's tense body language and short answers, but they didn't say anything.

Shawn was waiting in the hotel bar, a drink already in front of him. Scott walked forward to meet him but Kevin took Hunter's elbow and held him back a moment.

“Everything alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, sorry, just feeling a bit out of sorts today,” Hunter replied, flicking a glance to Shawn without meaning to.

“Okay. Anything you want to talk about? We're family here, Hunter.”

Hunter looked at him, feeling a little chagrined. “I know, I do Kev. Thanks for the offer.”

“I'm here, we all are, if you need us,” Kevin said and Hunter nodded, managing to give him a smile as they started walking over to Scott and Shawn.

Shawn looked at Hunter questioningly, but Hunter brushed it away, sinking down into the seat next to him.

“Better match tonight?” Shawn asked and Hunter had to laugh at his lack of tact.

“Yeah, a bit,” Hunter said and Shawn grinned at him. Hunter couldn't help but smile back.

Whatever happened, whatever conclusion Shawn came to, Hunter still wanted to be in his life, as his friend if nothing more. It would suck, and it would hurt, and it would be the hardest thing he would ever have to do, bury his feelings and just be friends, but he couldn't not be around this man in some way or another. He just hoped Shawn felt the same way.

An hour later, Shawn told them that he was leaving tomorrow, a day earlier than scheduled. Hunter listened to him bullshit his way through an explanation that no one really seemed to believe. Scott glanced at Hunter, who caught his look and shrugged, looking as confused as he could about the whole situation.

Hunter joined in with Kevin and Scott's commiserations about his early departure, and reassurances that they were there for him, whenever he needed them. They stayed up a little longer, enjoying the rest of their time together, rehashing old memories and retelling old stories to each other that they all knew backwards.

Hunter told Shawn he'd give him a lift to the airport in the morning; it's what the others would expect. Shawn insisted his flight was too early, especially when Hunter would be driving the rest of the day and then performing that night.

“I'll be fine, I can get a cab,” Shawn told them, and although Hunter tried to make him change his mind, Shawn was stubborn.

They all hugged goodbye by the elevators in reception; Kevin and Scott had decided to head out to join up with some other members of the roster to continue their night. Shawn was, for once, heading to bed due to his early flight, and Hunter didn't have the energy for more socialising.

Shawn and Hunter were quiet as they waited for the elevator. Once inside, the atmosphere was tense. Hunter wanted to drink Shawn in, keep looking at him until his image was burned in his brain so he would never forget, in case this was his last time. But he couldn't bring himself to look at him, couldn't bring himself to see what he might not have any more.

“Hey,” Shawn broke the silence. “When I'm back home, can I still contact you?”

Hunter tipped his head back against the steel wall behind him. “You'd want to?”

“Yes!” Shawn said vehemently. “You're still my best friend.”

“Sorry,” Hunter held up a placating hand. “Sorry. That was harsh. Yes, of course you can still contact me.”

“I meant what I said, back in Texas. I know I'm fucking this up now, but you're still my best friend. Always will be.”

“And you're mine. You are. I hate that this is difficult right now, I hate that we're fighting or whatever it is we're doing, but you're still my friend.”

The elevator arrived at their floor and they both got out, wandering down the hall together. They reached Hunter's room first, and Shawn paused there.

“Before you go, tomorrow morning, come and say goodbye, alright?”

“It'll be early,” Shawn warned him and Hunter shrugged.

“I don't care, I want to say goodbye.”

Shawn nodded. “Okay, I will do.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Shawn moved forward to hug him again.

“I'll see you tomorrow morning.”

Hunter watched Shawn walk down the hall to his own room, and waited until he was safely inside before going in to his own room.

~

When Shawn knocked on his door the next morning, it was obscenely early. Hunter pulled himself out of bed, tired from a night of not sleeping properly, and answered the door in just his shorts. Shawn was leaning against the door frame, suitcase by his feet.

Hunter yawned in greeting, pushing his hair back from his face. “Sorry, didn't sleep great last night,” he explained.

He'd missed Shawn, missed his warm body next to him, missed fighting for the covers in the middle of the night.

“Yeah,” Shawn agreed, “me neither. Sorry it's so early.”

“It's fine,” Hunter waved away his apology. “What time's your cab?”

“Ten minutes,” he replied.

“Come in for a bit,” Hunter stood back from the door, letting Shawn pass him by.

“You're a sight for sore eyes,” Shawn told him, looking at him forlornly. “Before I go, can I kiss you one more time?”

“Yes, please,” Hunter almost fell forward towards Shawn.

They fit together so perfectly, Shawn holding Hunter's head in place as they kissed, Hunter gripping Shawn's waist possessively. Shawn was all he could see, all he could taste, feel, hear.

“I don't want you to go,” Hunter whispered, pulling Shawn closer to him.

“I don't want to go, but I have to. I have to try and sort my head out,” Shawn said, sounding broken. “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.”

“Just, come back to me. In some way or another, come back to me,” Hunter asked.

Shawn nodded. “Yes.” He glanced down at his watch and winced. “I have to go.”

“Okay.” Hunter made himself step back, smoothing down the wrinkles he had caused in Shawn's shirt, taking a moment to compose himself.

“I'll speak to you soon, let you know I got home safe,” Shawn said, picking up his case.

Hunter nodded, clasping his hands together to stop him reaching out to Shawn again. He didn't trust himself to speak.

Shawn reached out as if to touch him but pulled back at the last moment. They paused, right on the verge of something, but the moment broke and Hunter watched Shawn walk out the door and away from him.

~

Shawn did as he had promised, texting Hunter later that day to say he was back home in Texas. Hunter text him back to say thanks and then didn't know what else to put so left it at that.

That night, Kevin cornered him at the arena. Scott had his own match in the ring but Kev had tweaked a muscle in the gym earlier and they were resting him before Nitro.

“Shawn make it home okay?” Kevin asked, stretching out his leg.

Hunter had already wrestled, showered and packed his kit. There was no good reason for him to leave the locker room, so he was stuck having the conversation.

“Yeah, he sent me a message earlier. Home safe.” He concentrated hard on repacking his bag, dumping everything out and starting again, folding everything neatly.

Kevin let him.

“Listen,” he started, his voice kind and understanding. “You and Shawn,”

“Yeah?” Hunter tried to sound as natural as he could, glancing over at Kevin as he shook out an old t-shirt.

“You seem...” he paused, trying to pick his words carefully. “You seem close.”

Hunter shrugged. “He's my best friend,” he replied, and he heard Kevin sigh.

“Yeah, I know that. We're all friends, I love you guys like my brothers, you know I do.”

Hunter nodded, trying to look confused as Kevin watched him carefully.

“But you and Shawn, you seem closer than that.”

Hunter didn't say anything and Kevin sighed.

“I'm going to be blunt here – are you fucking him? Is he fucking you?”

Hunter felt the tips of his ears start to heat and he looked away, shoving articles of clothing back into his bag at random.

“No.” His voice shook a little and he cleared his throat. “We're not fucking.”

Kevin made a noise. “Were you fucking him?”

Hunter barked out a laugh. “No, Kevin. I wasn't fucking him.” His stomach churned as he lied but he couldn't admit it.

“Hunter, I'm not judging. You're family, you always will be. Let me help.”

Hunter shook his head. “We're not fucking Kevin,” he said, firmly zipping his bag up then realising he had nothing to distract himself with.

“Do you love him?”

The question stabbed Hunter right in the heart. “Of course I do, like I love all you guys. Like you said, we're family.”

“Hunter,” Kevin tried to start again but Hunter was so goddamn tired of it all.

“I'm not sure what you're trying to insinuate here, Kevin. We're friends, me and Shawn, best friends. What else do you want me to say?”

Kevin looked at him, really looked at him for a moment and Hunter stared back.

“Okay,” Kevin raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, you're friends. I get it. You're lying through your fucking teeth to me, but okay.”

Hunter made to protest but Kevin carried on talking straight over him.

“You want to talk, really talk about anything? You let me know. I am here for you, and for Shawn. But I can't help if you don't trust me.”

Hunter sat down heavily on the bench and tipped his head back against the lockers. “We're just friends.”

“I know,” Kevin reached out and grasped his knee. “But when you're ready to admit the rest of it, you come talk to me.”

He stood and waited until Hunter nodded.

“I'm gonna go watch the end of Scott's match. I'll see you afterwards.”

Hunter waited until his footsteps had faded down the corridor before pulling out his phone and opening Shawn's last message. His finger hovered over the call button, desperate to speak to Shawn, to speak to someone. But he remembered the way Shawn had walked away from him, closing the bathroom door, remembered how Shawn had said he wasn't sure about this whole thing, remembered how hard it had hit him. He tossed the phone into his bag and turned and punched the locker swiftly.

The pain lanced through his hand and up his wrist but it helped. He pulled himself back together, grabbed his bag and went along to the main locker room to get some company so he could ignore the thoughts running through his head.

He worried Kevin would bring up their conversation again, but he was true to his word and didn't mention it. He'd told Scott, Hunter could tell, but Scott followed Kevin's lead and they went back to normal.

After four more days travelling, and one Nitro show, Hunter finally had a few days off. He flew home, to the comfort of his parents house. Shawn hadn't called him, although he had messaged him twice to check in. Hunter had replied, oddly formal, and that had been that.

When he got home, he slept for 12 hours straight. His muscles ached when he woke, but he pushed himself down to the gym anyway and only went home for dinner. His parents kept up the conversation but Hunter felt his head was miles away, down a dusty Southern road leading to a ranch that felt like home.

Whilst at his parents, he spoke to Kevin twice, called Scott to make travel arrangements, and didn't speak to Shawn once.

Shawn broke the silence later that week when he was back on the road, phoning him briefly to catch up. He didn't mention if he'd made any decision and Hunter didn't dare ask. Shawn started phoning once a week, and they messaged slightly more frequently, but it all still felt strained. They hadn't arranged to meet up again even though Hunter's body was screaming out for Shawn.

He watched Shawn on RAW when he could, watched his matches and his promos, tracked his movement and his eyes and tried to deduce how he was but it was a poor substitute for having him there.

Then it changed.

Hunter was in Georgia, the heat still heavy even as they moved into September. He was woken at 3am by the harsh ringing of his phone. He startled awake, the adrenaline thrumming through his veins before he could figure out what was happening.

He reached for the phone, fumbling with the buttons before managing to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” Shawn's voice came down the line, with the slight lilt that told Hunter he'd been drinking.

“Shawn?” Hunter sat up, reaching over to flick on the light.

“Yeah, it's me. Hi.”

“What's wrong? It's 3am, what's wrong?” Hunter felt his heart rate start to increase.

“I just... I wanted to talk to you,” Shawn said and Hunter collapsed back on his bed.

“You just wanted to talk?”

“Yes, we haven't talked in a while.”

“Shawn, it's 3am.”

“I had to work up the courage,” Shawn explained and Hunter heard the clink of glass on the other end of the line.

“You had to have a drink you mean.”

“Yes, because it's been really strained between us lately and I don't like it.”

“Shawn, it's been strained between us because you wanted space to do some thinking. I didn't want to make you think I was pressuring you by calling all the time. You know where I stand on this, you know what I want.”

“I know,” Shawn sounded alone and sad. “But I miss you, Hunter.”

“I'm so tired of this Shawn. You don't get to say you miss me like that, when you're the one who's put us in this situation. You've got to make a decision, for me, for us, for our friendship.”

Shawn was quiet on the other end of the line. Hunter sighed.

“Kevin asked me if we were fucking the other week,” Hunter said, and heard Shawn's sharp intake of breath.

“What did you tell him?”

“I said we weren't, I wasn't going to out you.”

“He knows I've been... flexible with partners before,” Shawn said and Hunter sighed.

“I know, but that's for you to tell him.”

“He asked me the same thing,” Shawn said and Hunter's stomach flipped over.

“You told him, didn't you?”

“Yeah.”

“Jesus Christ, Shawn.”

“Well, we were fucking,” Shawn said defensively.

“I thought that might be something we would have discussed together,” Hunter said, feeling a headache start behind his eyes. “And now Kevin knows I've lied to him.”

“He said he knew anyway, he could tell. You're a shit liar, Hunter.”

“Yeah, apparently so. What else did you tell him about us?”

“I said I was doing some thinking, said I was having some issues.”

“You make any decisions yet?” Hunter asked, though it hurt to do so.

“Hear me out,” Shawn said and Hunter's heart sank.

“That's all you need to say,” Hunter said.

“Don't hang up, please, don't hang up,” Shawn said quickly and Hunter, despite himself, stayed on the line.

“Okay, I'm still here.”

“Just, let me explain.” Shawn took a deep breath. “You know I love you, I do. I want to be with you but I can't get too involved because you're not here. I need you to be here with me, I need you here. And you're not, and I'm not blaming you for it, it happened, the whole Madison Square Garden incident, it was my fault, but you're not here. And I can't keep myself sane when you're not here.”

Shawn fell into silence and Hunter felt like his ribs were being crushed. It hurt to breathe.

“So you can't entertain the idea of being with me because I have to go work elsewhere?” Hunter asked, and he could feel the hurt and anger bleeding into his words. “You can't be faithful to me because I'm not there to make sure you don't sleep with someone else?”

“That's not what I said-” Shawn started, anger starting to creep into his own tone.

“Well it's what I understood from the conversation,” Hunter snapped back. “Because I'm not there to make sure you don't fuck someone else, we can't be together. You don't love me enough not to find comfort elsewhere.”

“It's not just about the sex,” Shawn said. “If that's all you're taking from it, maybe you're not so understanding either.”

“Fuck off, Shawn,” Hunter snarled.

“No, you listen, asshole. I'm trying to explain, to make you understand.”

“Yeah and all I'm hearing is that if I can't be with you, all the time, then what's the fucking point?”

“Fuck you, Hunter. You're not even trying to understand.”

“I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to be understanding, Shawn! Listen, it's late, I'm tired, I'm so tired and I need this to be done. I'll be your friend, I'll be your best friend, but this is over. I can't do this any more, the hanging on and waiting to see if you're ready. It's too much right now. I'll always love you, but I need this to end, for now.”

“Hunter-”

“Please Shawn, just give me a couple of days. I'll call you.”

He didn't wait to hear if Shawn said anything else, he just ended the call and threw the phone back on the night stand. He flicked off the light and lay down, feeling empty inside.


	8. Chapter 8

He was in a foul mood the next morning; silent and furious as he worked out and quiet as they drove to the next arena, the next stop on the never-ending road. He sat down heavily in their locker room that night, the thud of his bag hitting the metal door echoing around the room, and Kevin and Scott exchanged a look before Scott left the room. He was never the best at the emotional conversations.

“You going to go out there and wrestle all full of anger?” Kevin asked, pulling his own gear out his bag.

Hunter paused in the middle of getting changed, glowering at Kevin. He was up first and he still had to warm up and speak to Tanaka and the others who were involved in their tag match.

“You go out there like that and you'll hurt someone,” Kevin told him and Hunter finished pulling off his jeans before he answered.

“I know. I'll be okay out there, I'll calm down.”

“Really?” Kevin sounded sceptical.

“I will. I'm calming down now.” He pulled on his trousers and sat down to start lacing up his boots, forcing the muscles in his neck and back to unclench and loosen.

Kevin watched him in silence, and Hunter could feel his gaze lying heavy on him.

“Hey,” Scott stuck his head back round the door, “some of the guys are looking for you about the match tonight.”

“Yeah, I'm coming,” Hunter said, pulling on a t-shirt and grabbing the tape for his wrists out his bag. “I'm okay,” he told Kevin, even managing a smile when Kevin's face clearly called bullshit. “I'm not great, but I'm okay. I'll talk to you later.”

Kevin nodded, waving him away and Hunter went, meeting the others in the canteen.

Kevin was right; he couldn't wrestle in a foul mood. It wasn't fair to the others if he was off his game and injuries happened from the smallest misstep. He needed to get his head in the right place, forget about his own personal issues and focus on the match at hand. He was good at compartmentalising and so he focused himself, pushing the situation with Shawn out of his mind, and went to discuss his match.

It worked; with his mind only thinking about the ring, his tag-partner, his opponents, the fans, his own movement, he was soon walking back up the ramp, victorious with the boos from the crowd ringing in his ears. It was only then that he allowed the thought of Shawn to creep back in.

“Better,” Kevin told him as he passed him and Scott at the gorilla position, and Hunter slapped him on the back as he left to go shower.

He waited in the locker room for Kevin and Scott to finish their match. He checked his phone but the screen was blank. Nothing from Shawn. Just like he'd asked. 

It didn't make him feel any better.

He managed to chat almost normally on the car ride back to the hotel but he once again begged off going out for drinks. He'd rather wallow in his own pity and sleep. They let him go without too much fuss but in his room the four walls seemed to close around him and the silence was suffocating. He turned the television on for background noise, and fell into an exhausted sleep to the sound of pundits discussing the latest football results.

The television was still playing when he woke early the next morning. He didn't feel particularly well rested but he had at least slept without tossing and turning most of the night. He flicked off the television, checked his phone (nothing) and headed to the gym.

He'd been there about half an hour when Kevin came in. He looked round until he spotted Hunter and headed over, taking a seat on the weight bench, letting Hunter finish his set.

There was no one around them, the only other people there were a couple of women hitting the treadmills on the other side of the room, eyes fixed on the television playing the morning news in front of them.

“Been here long?” Kevin asked, setting down his towel and reaching to rack up his own set of weights. Hunter moved to the other mat, and started a series of push ups and crunches.

“Only a half hour,” he said, panting slightly.

“Let's grab breakfast after, yeah?”

“Sure,” Hunter nodded.

He finished on the floor and went to the punch bag set up in the corner, as Kevin moved through his own familiar routine. They knew each other so well by now that Hunter could tell when Kevin was winding down and began his own warm down.

They split off to shower and met downstairs 15 minutes later. They were wrestling in the same arena two nights in a row, so they were staying at the same hotel, a rare luxury. The diner down the street already had a few other members of the roster in it, but they were spread out so they didn't feel they had to join them. Kevin directed him to a booth towards the back, and Hunter knew what was coming.

The waitress was efficient, taking their orders quickly and dropping off some coffee for them before heading back down to her other customers. Hunter took a fortifying sip of coffee, put his mug down and looked at Kevin.

“I know that Shawn told you. Sorry for lying.”

Kevin waved his apology away. “You weren't ready to speak, and it's a touchy subject, I get it.”

“Still, we're family. I shouldn't have lied.”

“Why did you?” Kevin asked.

Hunter fiddled with a packet of sugar on the table in front of him. “To admit it, out loud, to someone else seemed like a huge step. We'd been keeping it quiet, nature of the business and all that. I wasn't sure how you'd react, I was terrified of someone else finding out and ruining his, mine, our careers. I worried that he would stop if someone else knew. Take your pick of reasons.”

“And now?”

“We've stopped now. We're... well, we'll go back to being friends, soon.”

“I spoke to Shawn last night,” Kevin said and Hunter's head jerked up to look at him.

“You called him?”

“He called me,” Kevin explained, “he was... well he was drunk. He'd been out with some of the boys, I got a call at 2am and he sounded out of it. Kept saying he'd fucked everything up.”

Hunter ducked his head to stare at the table top. “I told him we'd still be friends.”

“He said he'd lost your friendship forever, and he'd royally fucked things up now,” Kevin told him.

“I just needed a couple of days...” Hunter trailed off.

“What happened between you? Shawn wasn't making much sense.”

Hunter sighed. “We got together a couple of months ago, just after I'd been let go by Vince, when I went to see him at his ranch.”

“That ranch has a lot to answer for,” Kevin said wryly and Hunter laughed weakly.

“Yeah it does. Things were good, I mean it was difficult to be with him with us both with different companies and without anyone knowing, but I thought it was going good. Not perfect, but okay for the moment. Then when he came to visit all of us, he said he wasn't sure, he needed to do some thinking. It hurt, but I let him have some time – and that's what he's been doing the past few weeks. Thinking.”

“And?” Kevin prompted.

Hunter paused as their food arrived and they sorted themselves out.

“Hunter?” Kevin asked again.

“He made up his mind,” Hunter shrugged, concentrating hard on cutting up his bacon strips. “He said he couldn't be with me if I wasn't there with him, all the time. So that was that. I just needed a bit of space, I said I'd give him a call in a couple of days. I just needed some time to get my own head straight, and then I can be his friend again.”

“And how's that working out for you?”

“Not great,” Hunter admitted.

They ate in silence for a while longer, finishing their coffee and pushing empty plates away when they were done. The waitress came back over to refill their mugs and clear their table.

“So what happens next?” Kevin asked, pulling his re-filled mug of coffee closer to him.

“I've no idea. I go back to being his friend, I push that side of me away and I go back to being his best friend.”

“You think that'll work? Honestly?”

“Not at first, no.” Hunter shrugged. “But I'll make it work. I'll call him tomorrow – see how he is.”

“I'm not just looking out for Shawn, you know. I'm looking out for you too, Hunter. You've gotta think about what's good for you.”

“Yeah, but Shawn's more... he's just... I don't know. He's worth it. I want to be his friend.”

“If I can help, me or Scott...”

Hunter laughed. “Thanks Kev, but this is between me and Shawn. We'll... we'll work it out.”

“You want to get back to WWF don't you? You don't want to stay with WCW, I know that, but is it just to get back to him?”

“Not just because of that. You know why I left WCW the first time; I see my career progression in WWF, with Vince and the team. I do want to get back there as I think it's what I need. You guys are at a different stage in your career, I'm still trying to make a name for myself. I feel I can do that better there than here, but I need to get myself noticed again by Vince and the board.”

“I get it, I do. It makes sense, with where you are.”

“Not that I'm not grateful for all the help you and Scott have given me, you know that right?”

Kevin laughed. “Yeah Hunter, we know it.”

“Good. Okay, enough emotional conversations for one day. It's more than I can take,” Hunter said with a wry smile.

They paid their bill and left, heading back to the hotel and back to reality.

Talking with Kevin had helped, a little. There still wasn't any change in the issues he and Shawn were going through, but to have someone else at least know about it meant he didn't feel quite so alone. He had support, he had friends and family. And while he felt guilty that he had it here, beside him, while Shawn was going through this alone, he couldn't help but feel a little relieved that Kevin and Scott were there.

It helped to bring him to a slightly calmer mindset; the prospect was still bleak for his heart, but he could do this. He had to be honest with himself; he'd been expecting this outcome ever since Shawn had taken so long to come to a decision. If he'd wanted to keep this going, he would have said. Shawn was impulsive, he spoke first and thought second. If he'd truly wanted it, then he would have. But he didn't, it wasn't right for him at this moment and Hunter had to accept that and move on. He'd given Shawn his word that they would still be best friends so it was time to start being that again.

He took a deep breath and pulled out his phone, sending Shawn a text.

_Hope you're okay. I'll call you tomorrow. Have a good show tonight._

It was a start.

~

The next day, Hunter flicked through to Shawn’s number in his phone and pressed to dial. It rang for what seemed like eternity, Hunter’s heart beating double time and his stomach turning over itself as he waited to hear Shawn’s familiar drawl.

“Hello?”

A knot of tension that Hunter didn’t realise he was carrying unwound in his neck.

“Hi, it’s me,” he said, and heard Shawn’s intake of breath on the other end of the line.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d call,” Shawn said, and in the background Hunter could hear him moving, the sound of a door shutting behind him.

“I said I would,” Hunter said. “You okay to talk?”

“Yeah, I was just heading back to my room.”

They both paused and the silence was horrid; they’d never been so uncomfortable with each other before and Hunter was starting to wonder if this was a good idea.

“You okay?” he asked, mentally cringing at such a lame statement.

He could almost feel Shawn’s shrug through the phone. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Good show last night?” Hunter asked, desperate to try and get back to some sort of normality.

“Didn’t get my head kicked in by the fans and didn’t knock myself out jumping from the top rope,” Shawn said.

“Well that’s good,” he trailed off, unsure where to go from there.

“Kev told you I called him, didn’t he?” Shawn said. “I told him not too, but if I know big Kev…”

“Yeah, he said you’d called him, said you didn’t sound too good. I just wanted to check in.”

“Well, I’m okay, I’m still alive.”

“Shawn-“

“I’m fine Hunter, you don’t have to worry. I just had a drink and got sad-drunk.”

“No, I want to apologise,” Hunter said.

“Why?” Shawn asked after a moment’s pause. “Why would you have to apologise? I’m the one that fucked things up.”

“Yeah but I promised to always be your friend and I’m not doing a very good job of that,” Hunter said. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t there for you and that’s not right.”

“I understand why you weren’t there, I do get it.”

“I know, but still.” He took a breath. “I’ve had some time to think, to try and understand what you were telling me before. I was just too angry and upset to properly listen at first. I get it, I get what you’re saying. This being apart is hard and I miss you more than you can imagine. So, I understand, you gotta do what you gotta do to keep your head sane on the road. And if we can’t be together because of what you’ve got to do, then I get it. I don’t like it, I wish it was different and I wish I was there with you, but I can’t be so… so we’ll just be friends. For now, we’ll be friends again. Is that… is that what you want?”

“You know that’s not what I want,” Shawn told him, hurt lacing his words.

“Sorry, bad choice of words. I know, I know you want us as well. I do.”

“I want you. But I can’t have you at the moment.”

“Shawn,” Hunter said, “I know, I get it.”

“Okay, okay. Sorry. We’re friends, we never stopped being friends.”

“I know. So, friends.”

They both lapsed into silence again.

“Hunter, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry as well. This is all happening because of me and I get that it’s been really shit for you, for us both. Maybe we shouldn’t have tried this, maybe we didn’t think it through properly before it happened.”

“I wouldn’t change anything, Shawn. If that was all we get, I’d still rather that you knew that I love you, that you’re the one for me.”

“Me too,” Shawn replied quietly.

“Good, okay,” Hunter cleared his throat, and pushed forward, “so, tell me about your match?”

They talked for another twenty minutes or so, and Hunter felt lighter when they eventually hung up, Shawn being called away for some kind of press event.

It hurt, his heart still ached at the thought of never getting to hold Shawn again, never kissing him again or falling asleep next to him all wrapped up together. But he had him back in his life in some sort or another. That was enough. For the moment, that would hold him together.

~

It was both surprisingly easy and the hardest thing Hunter had ever done, falling back into being Shawn’s best friend and nothing more. He supposed that was down to the fact that he’d always felt something for Shawn, from the moment he met him, but he’d always settled for friendship. They fitted together well, their personalities just the right kind to click together. Their love of the business was the common interest that never went away, and one that they both never tired talking about. It was easier now to phone him up each evening and catch up, and push away the side of him that wanted more, wanted everything, wanted Shawn. If his heart hurt afterwards when they said goodbye and nothing more, it was a pain that Hunter got used to and could ignore.

Kevin was pleased they had made up, things were more relaxed now with him and Scott. Hunter hadn’t realised how the underlying tensions between him and Shawn had affected the rest of their little family. They spoke of Shawn more often in conversation, they called him together, they talked about meeting up at some point when they all had a free weekend.

And sometimes, when the pain and anger got too much, when he got too frustrated that the one thing he wanted more than anything in the world wasn’t his to have anymore, well there was always the gym to help take care of that. Kevin would notice, and either he or Scott would join him, keep an eye on him and make sure he didn’t hurt himself. Hunter appreciated the silent support.

It didn’t help that in the ring, he felt stagnated. His feud with Tanaka had come to an end, with Tanaka gaining a final victory over him a few weeks back in Nitro. Now he was stalling. He still fought each night, still had opponents, and televised matches on Nitro. But there was nothing in it. 

There was no storyline to get his teeth into, nothing to help develop his character more than being a jerk and a bully. The nWo faction had taken off immediately; they were ruling the roost but there was very little else going on for everyone else. He knew that Kevin and Scott went to the bat for him on several occasions, and he was grateful that he was still out there, still being televised and showing his skill, but it wasn’t enough. He missed getting involved in the business, of sitting down with Vince and Shawn and the creative team and discussing options, of throwing ideas out there and getting shot down most of the time but getting one right and seeing it grow, even if it wasn’t for him.

He liked talking about the business as much as he could but that was usually difficult after a show when everyone was drinking and having fun, or chatting up the girls who hung around. It wasn’t what he wanted. There wasn’t the same openness as there had been in the WWF and Hunter realised he missed that more than he thought. Others were content just to wrestle each night, do what they were told, train hard and reap the rewards. But he wanted more. He wanted to be involved in every aspect of this business that he was able to.

September rolled through into October with seemingly no change on the horizon. Hunter kept his routine as best he could; he worked hard, he practiced, he trained. But the spark of excitement in him was dimming. There was seemingly no end goal in sight. He only felt properly alive when he got to the gorilla position, heard the crowd and felt his adrenaline start to grow. Then it all came rushing back. He lived for those moments, to feel that rush and excitement.

The grind of the road was starting to wear him down. He wasn’t happy, and it was starting to feel more like he was doing a job rather than living his dream. He tried to speak to the bookers, to Bischoff, to anyone on the creative team but they mostly brushed him off. He was still only on the lower end of the scale, he still had no great sway and the weeks stretched before him with no offer of improvement.

Shawn became his one constant again, along with Kevin and Scott. He and Shawn spoke daily again, often just five minute conversations here and there, messages sent about amusing anecdotes or rants or laments about a poor performance. Kevin and Scott kept his spirits up, when they could see he was getting down, and tried their best to help out with the higher-ups.

They were in Scott’s room one night, tired from another long day travelling and performing. The mini-bar had been emptied onto the table, and Kevin had produced a pack of cards so they were deep into a game of poker.

“Listen, we’ve got a couple days off coming up. We were thinking, we should meet up with Shawn, get the Kliq back together again.” His tone was nonchalant but Hunter could tell he was watching him for his reaction.

He shuffled the pack of cards and concentrated on dealing out the new hand before he answered.

“Yeah? Sounds good. Where’s he at the moment, Illinois?”

Scott nodded, stubbing out the end of his cigar and reaching for his glass. “Yeah, then headed to Missouri. Thought we could meet up with him there – we’ll drive down together and have ourselves a little reunion.”

Hunter smiled despite himself. “Missouri won’t know what’s hit it,” he said, and Kevin laughed and raised his own glass.

“Damn straight.”

That night, as he lay in his own bed, thoughts of Shawn consumed him. Seeing him again, in person for the first time. It was going to be difficult, he couldn’t deny that. But to have Kevin and Scott there to help break the tension would be good. It was probably for the best that they met with company for that first time.

~

Later in the week they finished their show in Minnesota and the next morning headed to the car to start the journey down to Missouri. They could have flown but Shawn was still wrestling that night, so Kevin had decided they would drive down in time to pick him up after the live show and head out to a house one of Scott’s friends had out in the country. They’d kick back there for a couple of days, enjoying the peace and quiet and each other’s company together again.

The drive down was easy, Scott and Hunter splitting the main bulk of it, with Kevin navigating once they got into St Louis. The show was still going on and Shawn had said he was wrestling last, so they parked up in the arena carpark. Hunter called Shawn on his phone but it went straight to voicemail so he left a message telling him they were outside.

Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the passenger window, jolting Scott out of his doze, and Shawn was standing there, grinning in at them. They all piled out to greet him and gather his bags together. He looked good, still tanned despite the cool air, and dressed like he always was.

Hunter grabbed his bags to stash them in the trunk of the car, along with the rest of their supplies. 

He let Kevin and Scott greet Shawn first, then stepped up to hug him.

“Good to see you,” Hunter told him as they hugged.

“Good to see you too, Hunter,” Shawn pressed close for a brief second before they stepped apart.

“Come on, let’s get going,” Kevin said, “I’ll navigate if you’re okay to drive Hunter?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Hunter replied, squeezing Shawn’s shoulder as he headed round to the driver’s side.

“Good, we should be there in an hour or so,” Scott said as he got into the backseat.

“You got food and shit, yeah?” Shawn asked.

Hunter laughed. “You mean alcohol? Yes, that has been purchased.”

It was better when they were all back together; it felt easier and more comfortable. Hunter could concentrate on the road and ease back into the rhythm of their friendship as a group. Ease himself back into being in the presence of Shawn.

The house was thankfully big enough that they each had their own bedroom. Hunter was glad that he could have his own space. Being around Shawn and only being his friend was proving a little harder in practice than he thought. It would be fine, he’d get there, but some adjustment time to himself helped.

The next morning, after a peaceful night’s sleep, he felt refreshed and ready to take on the day. The heat of September had long gone, and fall had fully embedded itself into the air. The leaves on the trees outside were riots of colour that almost shimmered when the wind tugged at their branches. It was cold, hints of winter on the wind, but Hunter sat outside anyway, wrapped up in a large sweatshirt and clutching a mug of coffee for warmth. It felt like the cool air was blowing away the cobwebs from his mind.

He’d not been outside long when there was a knock at the door behind him. Turning, he found Shawn standing there, head cocked as he waited for Hunter’s invitation to join him.

Hunter nodded, waving his hand at Shawn and pulling round another chair with his foot. Shawn had his jacket on and a hat stuffed onto his head which made Hunter laugh.

“It’s not that cold,” he said, taking another drink of his rapidly cooling coffee.

“It’s fucking freezing,” Shawn replied, huddled down in his chair and turning his back towards the wind.

“Too used to that Texan heat,” Hunter told him, smiling as Shawn flipped him off. “You’re up early.”

“Yeah, I heard someone moving around and turning on the coffee maker, I couldn’t resist it’s siren call,” Shawn said, holding up his own mug.

They toasted each other with wry smiles and drank.

“Hey,” Shawn reached out to nudge Hunter’s chair with his foot. “It’s really good to see you again. I’ve missed you, I’ve missed you all, you know that, but I have missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Hunter told him truthfully. “It’s a little… strange for me right now, so sorry if I’m a little off. But I’m getting there, I promise. It’s just- just harder than I thought it would be.”

“Me too,” Shawn replied. “I thought it would be so easy to go back to being friends but turns out, feelings linger. It’s hard to put them back into a box.”

Hunter huffed a laugh; he felt exactly the same way. “I know what you mean. We didn’t stop because there was nothing there.”

“Yeah, just that the circumstances weren’t right,” Shawn said, glancing guiltily at Hunter.

“Stop that,” Hunter told him, “I don’t blame you. I get it, I understand. You’ve got to look out for you. We live a tough life. Nature of the business.”

“You’re being very understanding about this whole thing,” Shawn told him.

“What, did you think I’d go all dramatic on you?” Hunter asked, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

“I thought there would be more shouting,” Shawn admitted and Hunter shrugged.

“Look, the way I see it? Yeah, I was angry, I was upset, but I’ve thought it through now. You still love me, you want to be with me, we just can’t do that right now. So, I’ll work, I’ll get back to WWF, I’ll get back to you and we’ll be together. I know it; someday, we get to be together.”

Shawn watched him closely. “You’d do that for me?”

Hunter looked calmly back at him. “Yes.”

“What if I left WWF and came to WCW? That would solve the issue.”

Hunter laughed. “You’d hate it. You would hate it there. And you wouldn’t be you; under Vince, that’s where you thrive. He gets it; sure, he acts like you pissed in his coffee and slept with his mother half the time, but he gets you. He gets what you do in that ring. You go somewhere else, it won’t work.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I know you. You’re my best friend. I want what’s best for you. So you stay with WWF, you keep building your legacy for greatness, and I’ll get back to you.”

“You promise?” Shawn asked.

“I promise,” Hunter told him.

Shawn nodded. “Okay, you keep your promise. I’ll badger Vince about rehiring you. Seriously, what crap are they giving you on Nitro? Where’s your angle at?”

Hunter groaned, raising his hand in defeat. “Don’t even get me started…”

An understanding had been reached, a truce that felt good between them. It still hurt, Hunter still wanted to kiss him, take him to bed and remember how he felt, but this, this was okay. This was good. 

When Kevin knocked on the door to invite them in for breakfast, they were in the middle of planning out WCW storylines for the next year, shaping characters and finding new angles. They broke off at his knock, leaning apart from where they had been crowded together, scribbling ideas down on a scrap of paper Shawn had found in his jacket pocket. They stood and looked at each other for a long moment before Hunter stepped forward, pulling Shawn in for a hug.

“We’re okay,” he whispered into Shawn’s hair, holding him tightly for a moment.

He felt Shawn nod in response and then they were stepping apart, Shawn already calling Kevin an obscene name as he held the door open and asked if he needed to break up a fight. Hunter gathered Shawn’s abandoned mug, empty of coffee, and headed inside to join the rest of his family.


	9. Chapter 9

Their little vacation reunion ended up being just what Hunter needed. Being around Shawn again helped. Being able to talk to him in person was so much better than relying on phone calls; Hunter could read his body language, call him out on his bullshit and know when he was telling the truth. The release of tension that came with getting back on a level footing with Shawn made Hunter feel much more comfortable within himself. He talked openly about his career worries within WCW for the first time with Kevin and Scott, and as a group they offered ideas and suggestions to help him. By the time they left, 3 days later, Hunter felt stronger, like he was returning to who he was. He was refreshed, he was ready and he was motivated to move forward.

They all headed to the airport together, Shawn flying off to Virginia and the rest of them heading to Arizona. Saying goodbye to Shawn still hurt; Hunter suspected it always would do. It helped that he knew they would be talking more regularly now, that they had found their way back to the foundation of their friendship. But watching him walk away on his own still didn’t sit right with Hunter. Kevin had clapped him on the shoulder and steered him towards their own gate, pulling his mind back to the here and now.

And things were easier from then; he and Shawn spoke most days, both of them calling each other. He listened to Shawn rant about whatever had pissed him off that day, he told Shawn of his frustrations of the lack of direction he had in WCW, they talked about the horrors of constant airline travel, of whatever came into their minds at that moment. It was better.

At work he had been given a new storyline, feuding with Chris Kanyon. There still wasn’t much meat on the bones for his character, and the angle seemed flimsy but Kanyon presented a new challenge for him to wrestle with. They were both of similar height and size, and he was at least getting something from the bookers. They’d pulled together a half-way decent story themselves, exchanged ideas and worked together to push each other on, both in the ring and on the mic. The reward was a match at the World War 3 PPV in November, which Hunter put his heart and soul into. 

Bischoff gave him a nod of approval when he made it back through the curtain, the sting of getting thrown into the steel steps easing with the approval of others. He had lost, as scheduled, but had gotten his own victory with a low blow and spine-buster after the bell had been rung, and the backslaps and congratulations from the rest of the roster boosted him just a little more.

When he got back to his locker room, his phone had a message from Shawn waiting on it.

_Told Vince to watch your match. Thanks for putting on a good show._

If he hadn’t been feeling good beforehand, he certainly was now.

That match hinted at being a turning point for him; Bischoff seemed to actually start to take him seriously, he got better bookings every so often, matches that were higher up on the schedule and more focused. He started being able to perform, and if anything it made his work ethic only increase.

“Good match last night,” Shawn told him the following week. Hunter was at some bar in Maryland, helping Kev and Scott celebrate their tag team victory earlier that night, phone jammed against his ear to try and hear Shawn. He moved further away from the crowd, towards a slightly quieter corner.

“Thanks,” Hunter replied, covering his other ear with his free hand. “Sorry, it’s really loud in here.”

“Yeah, I can hear. Where are you guys?”

“Some bar down from the hotel, Scott wanted to go out to celebrate as they fly home tomorrow.”

“No rest for you?” Shawn asked.

“Two house shows to go before a weekend off,” Hunter replied. “Where are you?”

“Canada,” Shawn said, “somewhere in Canada. I just got on the bus, to be honest.”

Hunter laughed. “Just don’t get lost. If you’ve no idea where you are, then it’s harder to come pick you up.”

“I’m in the hotel tonight, I’m being good,” Shawn protested.

“Yeah, you’re known for being sensible after a few drinks,” Hunter replied.

“You know, I’ve really missed drinking across the table from your disapproving face,” Shawn replied and Hunter laughed again.

“And that’s the thanks I get for looking out for you. It’s touching really.”

“Aw, Hunts, you know I love you really,” Shawn replied before realising what he’d said.

Hunter inhaled sharply, closing his eyes against the swell of emotion in his chest.

“Sorry,” Shawn said, sounding sincere. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s what we would have said to each other, before all this. It’s how friends speak to each other, and we are that, so it’s okay.”

“You don’t sound okay,” Shawn told him.

“I’ll be fine,” Hunter said, mentally giving himself a shake. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Shawn didn’t sound entirely convinced but he seemed to give him the benefit of the doubt. “I’ll let you get back, Kev will be wondering where you are soon.”

“Yeah, I’ve been ignoring the chaos they’ve been making.”

Shawn laughed. “Go sort them out, I’ll speak to you when I’m back in America.”

“Stay safe in the Canadian wilderness,” Hunter told him, and listened to Shawn swear at him before hanging up. 

He took a couple of minutes, reminded himself that it was for the best right now, that he had agreed with Shawn on this whole thing, pulled his game face on and went back into the fray of drinking wrestlers.

~

They didn’t mention what happened again, but Hunter could tell Shawn was being more careful with his words. It frustrated him; this wasn’t supposed to be happening again. They were supposed to have resolved this, made it better between them.

“Shawn,” he said, on the phone to him a few nights later. “Stop, stop overthinking it.”

“Overthinking what?” Shawn asked.

“Everything you’re saying to me. Stop it.”

Shawn huffed in frustration down the phone.

“I just want us back to normal,” he said.

“And I get that, so stop analysing our conversations. Just say what you want. I can handle it, it’ll help.”

“But what if I fuck up again?”

“Of course you will, we both will. Shit happens, we deal with it, we move on. Remember what I said, at the house? We’re good. Stop trying to force it, we’ve just got to let it happen.”

“I feel like all I’m doing at the moment is hurting you, and I don’t like it,” Shawn admitted.

“It’s not intentional though, is it?” Hunter asked him.

“No,” Shawn replied.

“Then it’s fine. It hurts me more that you can’t be you around me. Just be you, that’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” Shawn said and Hunter had to take him at his word.

~

Hunter woke to a hammering at his hotel room door several nights later.

“Just a minute,” he yelled, blinking himself awake and climbing out of bed, stopping to pull on a shirt before he yanked open the door.

Kevin stood on the other side, his phone in his hand.

“Talk to him, he’s not making sense to me,” Kev said, shoving the phone at Hunter who took it automatically, confused as hell.

“Hello?”

“Hunter,” Shawn drawled, and he sounded drunk. “Hey…”

“Hey Shawn, what’s up?”

Kevin shouldered his way past Hunter into his room, sitting down heavily on the small sofa. Hunter closed the door behind him and went to sit on the bed.

“I had too much to drink,” Shawn slurred down the phone, “and I wanted to speak to you but then Kevin answered the phone. Are you sleeping with Kev?”

“What?!” Hunter was still trying to wake himself up enough for this conversation.

“I know you are, you’re sleeping with Kevin. And that’s okay, that’s okay, I get it, because I couldn’t sleep with you so you’re sleeping with him and-“

“Shawn!” Hunter said loudly, trying to stop the babble of words coming at him. “Listen to me, shut up for a second would you?”

“Am I interrupting?” Shawn sounded horrifyingly drunk and sad.

“Shawn, there’s nothing to interrupt. Listen to me, where are you?”

“My hotel room,” Shawn said after a moment’s thought.

Small mercies, Hunter thought to himself. “Good, okay, I need you to stay in your hotel room, have you got a glass of water?”

“Yes, but I dropped it.”

“Where?”

“On the bed?”

“Okay, is there another bed?”

There was another pause, where Hunter assumed Shawn was looking round his room. “Yes!” he replied brightly.

“Good, you can sleep there instead then,” Hunter told him, running a hand through his hair.

On the sofa, Kevin appeared to have fallen back asleep.

“Why would I sleep on the other bed?” Shawn asked, sounding confused.

Hunter had forgotten how difficult it could be trying to talk to a Shawn who was clearly well intoxicated.

“Shawn, get a glass of water, drink it, have another glass of water, drink it, then go to sleep.”

“But I wanted to talk to you,” Shawn said, and his tone turned whiny.

“I know, and you will. But can you do this for me first?”

“No, I want to talk to you-“

“Shawn, go get the water and drink it. Get another glass and drink it. Then go to sleep. Call me in the morning.”

“But I can talk to you now.”

“No, go get the water and then we’ll talk in the morning.”

“The morning?” Shawn asked, and Hunter could hear the bone-deep exhaustion in his tone.

“In the morning, when you’ve had some sleep.”

“If I forget…”

“I will call you and remind you of what you’ve been saying tonight.”

“Okay.” Shawn yawned. “So I’ll go to bed.”

“Yes, please drink some water first.”

“Okay. Some water. Some water and then we’ll talk.”

“No, some water and you go to sleep and when you wake up, then we talk.”

“So we don’t talk tonight?”

“No, Shawn, we don’t talk tonight. You need to sleep.”

“Okay, sleep.”

“Yes, get some water and then go to sleep. Okay?”

“Okay. Night Hunter.”

“Goodnight Shawn.”

Hunter waited on the other end of the line, listened as Shawn moved around his room, turning the tap on in the bathroom and rooting for another glass before he remembered about the phone in his hand. The dial tone hit and Hunter set Kevin’s phone down, yawning as he did.

Kevin stirred on the sofa and looked over at him.

“What time is it?” Hunter asked, rubbing a hand over his face.

“Little after 1am. He called about twenty minutes ago and I couldn’t get any sense out of him. He kept asking for you though, so I figured you might be able to help.”

“Thanks,” Hunter muttered. “He said he’d tried phoning me but you answered – I think it confused him.”

“He okay?”

“Apart from being hideously drunk? Yeah, I think he’s okay.”

“He’s been doing that a lot,” Kevin said, and Hunter glanced over at him.

“Doing what?”

“Calling when he’s been out. He hasn’t been doing it to you?”

Hunter shook his head. “No, we usually speak earlier, after a show or something. He’s been calling you?”

“Couple of times a week usually.”

“I didn’t realise he’d been going out drinking that much.”

“It is Shawn,” Kevin said, just stating a truth.

“Yeah, but we weren’t with him so I didn’t think he’d been that bad. When he calls me he’s usually in his room; I guess I naively thought he was just having a few beers there.”

“He said he didn’t want you to know, once. He was out of it and stumbling home, said he didn’t want you to think less of him.”

Hunter sighed heavily. “He knows I don’t like his excessive drinking, but it’s how he copes, what he does. I’m used to it.”

Kevin shrugged. “I’m just saying what he said.”

“I know. Thanks for coming to get me.”

“No problem, next time I hope he phones you directly,” Kevin said with a laugh. “I’m heading back to bed, see you later.”

Hunter waved him away, crawling back under the covers as the door clicked behind him. He was so tired but sleep wasn’t easy in coming, with Shawn’s sad, defeated tone ringing in his ears.

The next morning, Hunter waited until nearly mid-day before calling Shawn himself. It rang to voicemail twice and Hunter was in the middle of composing a message to send to him when he phoned back.

“Hey, sorry, I was just getting out the shower when you rang,” Shawn said.

“It’s fine. How you feeling?” Hunter asked

“I’ve been better but the shower and a shitload of coffee has helped,” Shawn replied.

“Yeah, you were pretty out of it,” Hunter said and Shawn grunted at him down the phone.

“You calling to tell me off?” he asked.

“Not sure it would make much difference if I did,” Hunter said. “Listen, I just wanted to check in on you, haven’t seen you like that in a long time, you alright?”

“Fine, just too much to drink. Some of the boys wanted to do shots.”

“A hell of a lot of shots by the sounds of it; you thought Kev and I were sleeping together,” Hunter told him.

“Shit, really? I thought I had dreamt that.”

“No, you said you’d tried to phone me but got Kev and that meant that Kev and I were sleeping together.”

“Fuck, did Kev hear that?” Shawn asked.

“I don’t know, he didn’t mention it afterwards so I think you spared him that tirade.”

“Good, I’ll call him and apologise later.”

“You’re sure everything’s okay?” Hunter asked again.

“Yes Hunter,” Shawn said, sounding a little annoyed. “It’s fine, I got too drunk, it was a one-off.”

“Yeah?” Hunter knew his tone was sceptical, but he didn’t like Shawn lying to him.

“Yeah, a one-off, shouldn’t mix the spirits with beer in the bar, I’ll be fine.” Shawn’s tone was short, he was always bad company with a hangover, Hunter knew this.

He wanted to dig deeper, to find out what was really going on with Shawn but he knew that if he pushed, if he prodded Shawn for answers, called him out on his bullshit, Shawn would snap back, cold and furious and they’d end up in a fight. He didn’t want that, didn’t want to break the thin ice that had formed after their breakup and open up the chasm down below. Now wasn’t the time. He’d get there, sooner rather than later, but now was the time to let Shawn retreat into his headache, sleep away the rest of the day and bounce back up later that night.

“Okay, I hope your day isn’t too rough,” he said, easing his tone back into neutral territory.

“I’ve got some media bullshit to do but I’ll be okay,” Shawn replied, sounding less annoyed now Hunter had backed off.

“I’ll let you go to get some food. Just, remember to call me and not Kev when you want to speak to me?”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a comedian. I’ll call you later,” Shawn told him and they both hung up.

Hunter knew he always worried about people he cared about, and he’d been worrying about Shawn from the moment he met him. Shawn had often grated against it at the start of their friendship; he felt like he didn’t need someone there monitoring his every move, and whilst he appreciated Hunter was there to give him a ride home, he often rankled against Hunter checking up on him. They’d moved past it for the most part, when Shawn realised that Hunter was just as stubborn as he was, and was going to look out for him no matter what Shawn thought of the situation. Now Shawn seemed to be retreating back to how they used to be and it only made Hunter worry more. The reality that he couldn’t be with Shawn to help him with whatever was going on in his head left a sour taste in Hunter’s mouth. But he couldn’t change that, he couldn’t suddenly magic his way back into the WWF; he had a goal that he was working towards but it wouldn’t happen overnight. He just had to figure out how to help him as best he could from afar.

~

Over the next few weeks, as they moved into December and near Christmas, they continued on as they had done. Shawn phoned, or Hunter called him, they talked, they bickered, they teased each other and on the surface everything seemed normal.

On his own, Hunter pondered the question of how to speak to Shawn about his worries. Kevin had suggested just asking him outright, but it wasn’t something Hunter could do over the phone. He knew it wouldn’t be right and he could almost predict Shawn’s reaction if Hunter tried it. It wouldn’t work. Scott suggested they could try and speak to him when he phoned. Hunter invited them to try, to not mention that it was Hunter’s concern that was fuelling it, but he knew it was hopeless. Shawn brushed them both off, telling them he was just letting off steam after a match or two, that it was normal. The trouble was that it was something Kevin and Scott themselves usually did, so they had no comeback. 

It became normal that they started waking Hunter when Shawn phoned them and asked for him. He was almost getting used to a knock on the door at 1am. He had a knack for talking Shawn into not drinking anymore, into going to bed and sleeping instead of playing cards until the sun rose. It usually helped that he was the sober one. Shawn didn’t seem to want to comment on the amount of times he ended up speaking with Hunter in the early hours of the morning.

One night, Kevin just gave Hunter his phone instead of waking him up later. It hurt, knowing that Shawn was going down this route but all Hunter could do right now was be the one on the end of the phone that he wanted to talk to. He was woken, right on cue, with Shawn calling him and they spoke for a while before Hunter talked him into going to bed and going to sleep.

Shawn phoned him the next morning.

“Did I call you last night?” he asked, his voice rough.

“No, you called Kev but he gave his phone to me earlier.” Hunter had the phone stuck between his ear and shoulder as he finished gathering his belongings from around the hotel room.

“Why?”

“He wanted a full night sleep? When you phone, you usually ask to speak to me anyway so he decided to cut out the middleman,” Hunter told him, shoving a handful of t-shirts into his suitcase.

“Oh,” Shawn said, and fell silent.

“Listen,” Hunter said, abandoning his suitcase and taking a deep breath. “I don’t want to push it, but you’re calling a lot when you’re drunk. And you’re getting drunk a lot.”

“You don’t want to talk to me?” Shawn asked, and Hunter could hear the rising thread of tension in his voice.

“Don’t be stupid. You know I always want to talk to you. I’m just worried, about the drinking.”

“I’m fine, I can handle it. It doesn’t affect my performance in the ring.”

“You are the consummate professional,” Hunter told him dryly, and Shawn swore at him. “You know I worry-“

“I’m fine,” Shawn told him.

“Doesn’t stop me worrying. And the drinking thing, I get it, it’s your coping mechanism and you’re with the boys, I’m not trying to stop you drinking,” Hunter said.

“So what is this about?”

“When you phone, you just never sound okay.”

“Well I’m drunk, of course I never sound okay,” Shawn said.

“Shawn, you sound sad. And I don’t know how to help with that.”

Shawn sighed. “Listen, Hunter, you can’t fix everything. I know you want to and you have this complex where you blame yourself for everything that goes wrong. But shit happens.”

“What shit? At least tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s nothing, really.”

“Bullshit. You just said I can’t fix it so it’s gotta be something.”

“It’s not, it’s nothing really. I just, I miss you guys and your support. That’s all,” Shawn insisted.

“Shawn, it’s something that’s messing with you. What kind of friend would I be if I couldn’t try to help?”

“You help me more than you can know,” Shawn told him, sounding open and honest. “Seriously, you do, Hunter. Speaking to you always helps.”

“If you want to talk, or vent or whatever, you know you can always phone? Like, you don’t have to go through Kev or Scott to get to me. If you phone, I’ll answer,” Hunter told him earnestly.

“I know. I just don’t want to be… I guess I don’t want to burden you,” Shawn said quietly.

“Shawn,” Hunter almost laughed. “You could never be a burden to me. Seriously, man, just phone me.”

“I’ll try,” Shawn said. “It’s easier phoning Kev or Scott when I know they’ll be up still, most likely still drinking.”

“I don’t care, just phone me if you want to.”

“Okay, I’ll think about it,” Shawn told him.

It didn’t really make Hunter feel any better, there were still issues that Shawn obviously wasn’t telling him about, but if he could make Shawn call him, make him reach out to Hunter, he was a little happier.

~

Sometimes Shawn called him in the middle of the night, sometimes he still called Kevin or Scott, and he didn’t always ask to speak to Hunter.

There was still an issue, Shawn was good at hiding things, at pushing through until he didn’t have to think about it anymore, but Hunter could tell something was up. He just couldn’t pinpoint what it was. He tried speaking to a couple of the other guys that he was still friendly with from WWF, catching up and trying to glean information from what they were saying. Mick mentioned that Shawn was usually quite withdrawn from the main roster, except when they went drinking, but apart from that there wasn’t much to go on. All he could do was keep his spirits up as best he could. 

They were all in Florida the week before Christmas; Shawn was finishing his last show before a good break whilst Hunter, with Nitro, had more house shows until the following week. However it was the closest they had all been together since September. Shawn had been going to go visit his folks but changed his plans when he knew the others were in town.

Winter in the heat always felt strange to Hunter, having grown up with snow and wind. Shawn revelled in it however; he could spend hours out there when the sun shone, soaking the heat into his bones. He hated the cold and wearing the layers that kept the wind’s cool fingers out. Sometimes Hunter thought about the fact they were opposites and how they shouldn’t fit together as well as they did. But for all their differences, there was something about Shawn that drew him in, that made Hunter know that this was the man for him.

They had hired a house on the beach, just outside Daytona which allowed Hunter and the others to travel when needed to the shows but allowed them all somewhere to call home for a few days. Scott and Kevin were only working the one house show after Nitro so they could keep Shawn company whilst Hunter had a fuller schedule. 

He was still feuding with Kanyon in the background, but had started to take on a more varied selection of opponents. After the initial push of Hunter, things had subsided again. They were still looking for the right role for him to fill, matching him with different tag-team partners, looking at managers that could work well for him. Hunter appreciated the effort, but it seemed lacklustre at best with very little actual involvement from him and no sense of direction from creative. He still got involved when he could, turning up for creative meetings when he hadn’t exactly been invited. They usually let him sit in, let him have his turn to talk but they didn’t often take on any ideas that he suggested. It was frustrating when this was something he wanted involved in, something that he wanted to learn from but he did what he could and there wasn’t much else he could do. He felt he would always feel wanting with WCW, and it just spurred on his goal to return to the WWF as soon as he could.

Seeing Shawn again was more of a relief for Hunter than he had expected. The sense of instability he felt at work, coupled with his worry over Shawn had weighed more heavily on him than he had realised. When he saw Shawn, waiting for them in the main lounge of the rented house with a smile on his face, Hunter had almost stumbled, tripping over in the doorway. He managed to catch himself before he fell flat on his face, and the others didn’t seem to notice as Kev and Scott were already greeting Shawn. But the relief he felt in his stomach was almost painful.

Shawn looked good, if a little tired at the end of a long run of shows. He was tanned, his wrists adorned with a couple of new bracelets that he must have picked up on his travels, and his hair pulled back loosely at the nape of his neck. He was barefoot in shorts, the doors which led out to the beach were open and the air was still warm. Hunter dropped his bag to the floor and stepped forward to receive Shawn’s hug, his arms tightening and his hands gripping Shawn for a long moment before he stepped back. Shawn patted his shoulder as they parted and Hunter leant into the touch.

Scott offered to rustle up some food for them as they had come straight from the arena where catering had been limited. Kevin and Shawn dealt with the bags, and Hunter was pushed towards the couch after his driving stint. He collapsed down onto the soft cushions gratefully, head falling back against the wall as the exhaustion caught up with him.

His eyes closed of their own accord and he wasn’t sure how much time passed before he was jolted awake by someone sitting down beside him. Opening his eyes took work but seeing Shawn beside him was worth it.

“Here, you need to eat,” Shawn told him, holding a bowl of pasta out to him.

The smell hit him and his stomach growled in hunger. Shawn grinned, sticking a fork in the bowl and passing it over.

Hunter managed to mumble his thanks before shovelling the food into his mouth.

“Don’t choke on it,” Shawn said, reaching back to help Kevin with the drinks, and placing a bottle of beer down in front of Hunter.

Hunter raised his eyebrow at him and Shawn laughed.

“It’s non-alcoholic. Thought you might like to join in with the pretence of having a drink to celebrate the holidays.”

“Thanks,” Hunter said, reaching forward to pick up the bottle and clink it with Shawn’s, doing the same with Kevin and Scott sat opposite them on the other couch.

They sat in comfortable silence as they ate their late dinner, a radio in the kitchen providing gentle background noise. Hunter felt like it was the first time he had stopped in what felt like years. He dropped his empty bowl on the table, drained the rest of his beer, and slumped back contentedly.

Kevin was asking Shawn how his match had gone, but Hunter was too busy being lulled back into a doze, conscious of the warmth of Shawn’s knee as it pressed against his on the small couch, the familiar voices of his friends almost like a lullaby to him. His head dropped forward and he jolted back awake, blinking rapidly against the sleep that threatened to overwhelm him.

Shawn was watching him, laughter in his eyes and Hunter yawned and flipped him off.

“I’m beat, guys, I’m gonna head to bed,” Hunter told them, heaving himself up off the couch and stretching out his back once he was standing. “Leave the dishes in the sink, I’ll get them in the morning.”

“I’ll show you where we dumped your stuff,” Shawn said, standing up beside him.

“I’m setting up cards for poker, you want another beer Shawn?” Kevin asked, gathering dishes together on the table.

“Yeah man, I’ll be right back,” Shawn said, nudging Hunter in the direction of the stairs.

“Pretty sure I can figure out which bedroom I’m in, Shawn,” Hunter told him as they climbed the stairs.

“I’m just making sure you get there and don’t pass out on the stairs. I’m not lugging your ass up the stairs to bed,” Shawn replied.

“I’ve done it for you before,” Hunter said and then laughed when Shawn dug his elbow into Hunter’s ribs in retaliation.

“You’re in here,” Shawn said, pushing open a door in the hall and gesturing inside.

“Do I tip the porter or…” Hunter asked and Shawn flipped him off.

“I was gonna say that it’s good to see you, but I’m not feeling it right now,” Shawn said.

Hunter smiled at him. “It’s really good to see you Shawn.”

Shawn smiled back at him. “It’s really good to see you too, Hunts. Sleep well.”

Shawn headed back down the stairs, calling out something to Kevin as he went, and Hunter watched him go until he disappeared from sight.

He managed to make it through brushing his teeth before he collapsed onto the bed in his underwear as finding sleeping pants seemed like too much effort. The sheets were cool, the aircon humming quietly against the Floridian heat, and Hunter felt content and happy. He was asleep within seconds.

When he woke, the feeling on contentment lingered. His detail of his dreams faded too quickly, but they left behind a sense of warmth that filled his chest. He rolled over, sheets pushed down, and stretched out on the bed. The sun was shining brightly in through the window, where he hadn’t been bothered to close the curtains the night before, and the house was quiet in the way places usually were early in the morning. He contemplated trying to get a little more sleep, but he had the whole day stretching in front of him, no house shows until the next day, and the thought of dozing out in the sun was tempting him more.

He found some shorts and a cleanish t-shirt in his bag and headed downstairs. The beach was right outside the backdoor of the house, and the sand was just starting to warm when he headed out. Running wasn’t his favourite form of exercise but the incentive of being out in the sun was bigger than his desire to find the local gym. The sand shifted below his feet until he reached the firmer ground by the ocean, and he turned into the sun and started down the beach, joining the others out at this time in the morning.

He ran for about twenty minutes, before slowing and turning back around, heading back for the house and hoping he remembered which one he was actually staying in. He moved up to the softer sand, letting the runners have down by the water and took his time, the sun steadily beating down on his back. His mind wandered as he walked, inevitably drifting back to Shawn.

He seemed happy last night, comforted with the presence of his family there, and safe in the knowledge that they were together for a while. He paused for a moment on the memory of Shawn’s knee pressed against his, of what they had had together, and it still hurt but it felt like a dull ache now, one he had come to accept. The Shawn from last night had seemed miles away from the Shawn that he spoke to in the early hours of each morning. Did everything change because he was back with his friends? 

He kept on walking, mulling things over in his mind and keeping an eye on the houses as he passed for anything that looked familiar. He eventually struck it lucky. Shawn was sitting outside, cowboy hat tipped low over his face to shield himself from the sun, feet buried into the sand, shirtless and looking so good that Hunter’s breath caught in his throat for a second.

He moved over towards Shawn, kicking sand up his legs and laughing at the affronted noise Shawn made. Shawn pushed his hat up with one hand, looking up at Hunter standing over him.

“Morning,” he drawled, and Hunter watched the smile spread across Shawn’s face, his eyes bright and his face relaxed.

“Morning,” Hunter replied.

“Managed to catch up on sleep?” Shawn asked.

“I don’t think we’ll ever manage that,” Hunter said. “But it was a good sleep. I feel more refreshed this morning.”

“You’re not wrestling tonight, right?”

“No, day off. Then 4 shows, a weekend off, Nitro and then a full week off. I won’t know what to do with myself.”

“You’ll be bored within 3 days,” Shawn told him and Hunter flipped him off.

“You gonna keep me company in the kitchen whilst I clear up from last night?” Hunter asked, heading to the sliding doors back into the house.

“Only if you cook me breakfast as well,” Shawn said, pulling himself out his chair to pad along behind him.

“You drive a hard bargain, Michaels,” Hunter told him. “Scour the kitchen for food, I’ll take a quick shower and I’ll see what I can do.”

~

Hunter spent the day basking in the Floridian sunshine with his best friends. He couldn’t really ask for much more. They grilled outside in the evening, and only headed back inside when the temperature dipped as the sun set and the breeze picked up off the ocean.

They played more cards, a staple of their time on the road, and watched whatever sport they could find on the television. There was beer to drink, both alcoholic and non, but it was all in good company with no one drinking to excess, stories to retell and life to ponder. Kevin was stretched out on one sofa, claiming height advantage, Scott had taken the chair which left Shawn and Hunter sharing the other sofa.

Shawn, three beers in, had gotten himself comfortable leaning with his back against the sofa arm, and feet wedged under Hunter’s thigh.

“I’ve got cold toes,” he explained to him, and Hunter laughed.

“You could wear socks,” he said.

“I can move?” Shawn offered but Hunter shook his head.

“No, you’re fine.” He dropped his hand down to Shawn’s ankle and patted it reassuringly. Shawn dug his toes a little further under Hunter’s thigh and settled back in his seat. Hunter kept his hand resting on Shawn’s skin, his thumb rubbing a little.

As the time on the clock on the wall ticked closer to midnight, Scott was the first to break and state that he was heading to bed. A day of relaxation was somehow more tiring than a full day of travelling and wrestling. They arranged a time to head to the gym the next morning, before Hunter would need to head out to do some promo work before the house show that he was wrestling the next evening. His contrary booking meant he would probably be on early in the show so he could leave early and be back at the house before it got too late.

Kevin eyed the way Hunter’s hand hadn’t moved from Shawn’s ankle, and gave Hunter an assessing look. Hunter half shrugged, he wasn’t exactly sure what was happening with Shawn either, but he was prepared to go along with it for the moment.

“Alright kids,” Kevin said, standing up from the sofa, “don’t stay up all night braiding each other’s hair.”

Shawn swore profusely at him, grinning the whole time, and Kevin nodded at Hunter before heading for the stairs.

They lapsed into silence for a while, the white noise of sports commentary playing out in the background, before Shawn shifted and Hunter tipped his head in his direction.

“Hey,” he said, and Shawn looked over to him, his face open and relaxed. “You good?”

Shawn nodded. “Yeah, I’m good.” He moved his feet under Hunter’s thigh and smiled. “I’m right where I want to be.”

“Good,” Hunter said. “Me too.” He stroked over Shawn’s ankle once more and paused for a second. “And over the last couple of months, you been okay?”

Shawn tensed underneath his hand, and Hunter’s grip tightened reflexively, until Shawn relaxed a little.

He heaved a sigh and looked away. “I haven’t been great. I know you know that, that you’ve been waiting for me to admit it. It’s like what I said, it’s tough not having you there, having all you guys there. You get me. The others don’t, not really. Some of them try, and I know that and appreciate it, but it isn’t the same. Going out with the guys, drinking with them, I don’t know… it helps.”

“Yeah?” Hunter asked.

“I know you won’t see it like that, but it helps me. Makes me forget how lonely it can be. Without the boys, without you. I don’t feel alone, just for a short while,” Shawn said.

“Shawn, I want to help. Please let me help. I hate that you’re feeling this way,” Hunter said, sitting up a little straighter on the sofa and reaching out to him.

Shawn caught his hand in his own, swinging his legs down and sitting up to pull Hunter into a hug. “You’re doing what you can. You can’t fix everything, babe.”

“For you, I wish I could,” Hunter told him, pressing closer to him.

Shawn’s grip on him tightened. “Fuck, Hunter, you can’t say stuff like that,” he said.

“Why not?” Hunter asked. “You know it’s true.”

“You’re making me want to do things that aren’t fair to you, to either of us,” Shawn said, pulling back to look him in the eye. “Things that we shouldn’t do.”

Hunter looked at him, really looked at him and shook his head. “I don’t care. I know we shouldn’t, and that you haven’t changed your position on where we are, and I know it will hurt when we have to part again, but I really don’t fucking care Shawn. I miss you so much, it’s like a part of me is gone when you’re not around.”

“We shouldn’t do this. We should keep things as they are. I don’t want to hurt you any more than I already have,” Shawn told him, words dropping to a whisper as they moved closer together as if drawn by some invisible string.

“It hurts more when I’m not with you,” Hunter said, and he could see Shawn warring with himself, trying to decide what to do. “I want this; I know it can’t last forever, maybe just for this night, but I want this. You can’t hurt me; I know what I’m getting into with this. Just tonight, please Shawn.”

“I hate hurting you,” Shawn told him again, helplessly.

“Tell me to stop,” Hunter told him, moving forward and pressing Shawn back down into the sofa. “Tell me to stop and I will, I promise.”

“I can’t,” he whispered.

“I love you,” Hunter told him and leant down to kiss him.


	10. Chapter 10

When they kissed, it was perfect. Hunter felt like he was coming home, coming back to where he belonged. He knew it was going to hurt to give this up again, and possibly hurt more than the last time, but he didn’t care. To have this again, to feel Shawn under him, taste him, it was everything he wanted in that moment. 

Time seemed to slow down and it felt like they kissed for hours, relearning each other and reassuring each other that they were there. It felt like it should be rushed, they should be frantic with lust, taking as much as they could in their limited window but it was nothing like that. They revelled in each other, wrapped together so tightly Hunter wasn’t sure where Shawn ended and he began. They were both hard, Hunter could feel Shawn pressed up against his leg, but there was no rush to get there. It was inevitable that they would end up in bed together, it was fate, it was written in the stars.

Hunter went to move, to bring Shawn closer to him if possible, and was abruptly reminded of where they were. The sofa was small and he almost fell with only Shawn’s grip keeping him from smacking down onto the hardwood floor.

He laughed at the look on Shawn’s face, braced a foot against the floor and kissed him again.

“Come upstairs with me,” Hunter said to him, their lips brushing together with his words.

“We don’t want to give Kev or Scott a heart attack,” Shawn agreed but he didn’t move. “Hunter-“

“Don’t think,” Hunter interrupted him. “Don’t overthink it. Please, just tonight, just be mine again tonight.”

“I’m always yours,” Shawn told him, reaching up to stroke his cheek. “You know that.”

“So come upstairs with me,” Hunter whispered to him. “I know what I’m getting into, this is on me, not you.”

Shawn watched him carefully for a moment and Hunter waited, even though every fibre of his being was screaming at him to kiss Shawn again.

“Okay,” Shawn said, and Hunter smiled at him, bright and beautiful. “And people call me the bad influence.”

Hunter kissed him again, pressing their foreheads together. “I learnt from the best.”

They managed to untangle themselves and Hunter remembered to switch the television off before he reached for Shawn’s hand, leading him to the staircase. They were both quiet as they made their way upstairs, and down past the closed bedroom doors of their friends.

Hunter opened the door to his room and ushered Shawn inside, closing the door gently but firmly behind him.

Shawn stood in front of him, so beautiful that Hunter ached with love for him. He reached out and drew Shawn into him, wrapping them back together.

He felt whole when they were together, something slotted into place in his soul when he had Shawn and he would do anything to keep this feeling.

He kissed him again, sweeping his hands up Shawn’s arms, down his back, under his shirt, up his sides, over all the skin he could manage to find. Shawn’s hands were on his ass, his grip firm, as they stood together.

Hunter took a half step back, pulled his shirt over his head and moved back into Shawn, stripping his shirt off him, dipping his fingers into Shawn’s waistband to help push the material down.

“I love you,” Hunter told him again, and Shawn pressed into him, gripping tightly to his shoulders.

“I love you too,” Shawn said, pressing their mouths together again as Hunter moved them towards his bed.

They fell together, still intertwined, and Hunter twisted them, landing on his back with Shawn on top of him. It felt safe to have Shawn’s weight on top of him, his mouth against his, their legs tangling on the bedsheets, and Shawn’s bare skin under his hands. Shawn’s hands crept into his waistband and together they managed to get Hunter’s shorts off and kicked onto the floor. Shawn framed Hunter’s face with his hands, pushing his hair back and gazing at him.

“I’m sure,” Hunter told him, before Shawn could voice the question so obviously written on his face. “I’m sure. Like this, I want you, let me feel you again.”

Shawn groaned quietly at his words, and he ground down against Hunter, almost involuntarily. Hunter braced his legs either side on the bed, cradling Shawn between his knees, and ran a hand down the sweep of his back.

“Please Shawn,” Hunter lifted his head to breathe the words into Shawn’s ear, “I want you to fuck me.”

Hunter’s words, the assurance in his tone, seemed to be what Shawn was waiting for. He moved, taking control and running his hands possessively over Hunter’s body.

“Do you have…?” Shawn asked, panting against Hunter’s skin.

“Yeah, the drawer-“ Hunter flung his hand in the general direction, distracted by Shawn’s hands drawing patterns on his stomach.

Supplies in hand, Shawn leant back down to kiss him. “I’ve got you,” Shawn told him, “I’ll look after you, I promise.”

Hunter let him take over, let him lead the dance they were on and he revelled in the pleasure that Shawn pulled from him. Shawn was his everything. The rest of the world dimmed around them, Shawn was his point of focus, his light in the darkness, the one thing tethering him to the ground when he felt like he could float.

He lay on the bed after, exhausted but elated. His eyelids felt heavy, and he knew he was drifting off to sleep. Shawn shifted on the bed beside him, moving towards the edge and Hunter’s hand shot out of its own accord.

“Where are you going?” Hunter asked, rolling towards him.

Shawn smiled at him, leaning over to press a kiss to his forehead. “I’m just going to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be waiting for you,” Hunter said, and Shawn’s smile brightened.

“I’ll be back,” he promised.

He kept his word, sliding back in beside a dozing Hunter and wrapping Hunter’s arm around his waist. Hunter shifted towards him drowsily, nosing at the nape of his neck, and Shawn settled against him, sliding into sleep.

For all that he was exhausted, Hunter couldn’t fall asleep. He didn’t want to waste a second of having Shawn back in his bed so he lay there, comfortable and warm, and watched Shawn sleep.

He must have dozed at some point as when he was next conscious the sky was beginning to lighten. Shawn was still deep asleep beside him, one arm flung over Hunter’s chest and his hair spread out across the pillow. Hunter craned his neck to check the time; he had a few more minutes before he needed to get up. Shawn shifted as he felt Hunter move, protesting the fact that he was being woken. Hunter quietened him, running his hand down Shawn’s back to soothe him back to sleep. He laid back down, Shawn settled against his shoulder, and listened to the quiet sounds of the house waking up.

Someone was moving around downstairs, the floorboards creaking every so often. He reckoned it would be Kev as Scott preferred to sleep for as long as possible. He relaxed for another few minutes before his internal clock started beeping at him to get up. He made to slide out the bed, to let Shawn sleep a little longer, but the moment he started for the edge of the bed Shawn’s grip on him tightened and he could feel Shawn waking up.

So Hunter waited, watching with such love as Shawn blinked himself awake, looking around blearily, one hand gripping tightly to Hunter’s arm.

“Morning,” Hunter told him quietly, smoothing Shawn’s hair away from his face.

“You going?” Shawn asked, his voice scratchy from sleep.

“Just about to – we’re leaving for the gym in 10 minutes.”

“Okay,” Shawn nodded, his grip not loosening on Hunter’s arm.

“Stay here,” Hunter told him, bending down to kiss Shawn, “get some more sleep, be here when I get back.”

“What, naked in your bed?” Shawn asked, his mouth curling up into a smile.

“Yes, please,” Hunter said.

“But you’re out all day, and Kev and Scott will be back before you…”

“Okay,” Hunter relented, smiling back at him. “Get changed, hang out with them, and then get naked and back in my bed.”

“Deal,” Shawn said, hooking an arm around his neck and dragging him back down onto the bed.

Hunter lost himself in Shawn again, kissing him like his life depended on it, until Kevin’s voice broke them apart.

“Hunter! We’re leaving in 5 minutes.”

“I’ll be right there,” Hunter called back as Shawn laughed into his shoulder. “You’re trouble, you are,” he told Shawn who tried to look innocent.

Hunter kissed him again quickly before getting out of bed. As he was heading to the gym first, he pulled on his training clothes, and found his bag which was already packed with his wrestling gear.

Shawn watched him from the bed, sheets pooled around his hips as he sat propped up against the headboard with Hunter’s pillows.

Hunter shoved his feet into his shoes, hoisted his bag over his shoulder and headed back over to Shawn, leaning down to kiss him again.

“Please be here when I get back?” he asked again, looking into Shawn’s eyes.

“I will, I promise,” Shawn told him.

“I love you,” Hunter said and Shawn smiled.

“Love you too, babe.”

~

The day was long; media and promo work weren’t Hunter’s favourite things to do, especially without the structure that he had gotten used to with the WWF. He had long periods of doing nothing, followed by an hour or so of harried, rushed promos and talking to reporters or journalists who didn’t know who he was or even really why he was speaking to them. He still wasn’t the big name, he didn’t have the pull of Nash or Hall and those were the names they wanted. Not some low-card wrestler who had a tough gimmick to work with.

He felt more settled when he was in the arena. This was comfortable and familiar. He knew the layout, he knew there would be questionable catering, he knew there would be people rushing around in controlled chaos and guys fighting for space in locker rooms and the smell of popcorn and stale beer that always seemed to permeate these places.

He picked up a copy of the schedule tonight, which had already changed twice, and scanned down to find his name. He was in the middle, the tag-team match he thought he would be competing in scrapped for a one-on-one against Kanyon. He found the main locker room, claimed a spot with his bag and changed into some practice gear before heading down to the ring.

There were a couple other guys there, Kanyon amongst them, so they spoke a little about their match before warming up together in the ring for twenty minutes. Once they left the ring to let others practice, Hunter headed back up the ramp himself. He went to get something to eat from catering; the bowl of pasta was edible but that was all he could say for it. Sitting down at one of the tables, he ate his food mechanically, pulling his phone out his pocket to check his messages.

Shawn had text him periodically throughout the day, keeping him up to date with what they were doing back at the house and Hunter felt a pang of longing each time a message came through. He wanted to be back there with his family, not stuck here with a group of people who cared in varying different amounts.

_Match is on mid-show. Should be home by 11._

_I’ll be waiting_

Hunter stared at the short message on the small screen for a long time before someone dropped their dishes and the noise startled him out of his memories.

Last night had been… it had been incredible. The sex was good, it always was with Shawn, but it was more than that. It was having him back in his life in the way Hunter wanted him. He knew they could be friends; they’d never be as close as they had been and there would be an underlying tension to everything they did, but they could be friends.

Hunter didn’t want that. He wanted more. He wanted everything Shawn could give him and everything he could give in return. He knew Shawn probably saw this little reunion as only temporary, and Hunter was content to let him for the moment. But Shawn’s disengagement with his work colleagues, his apparent upturn in drinking to cope, and Hunter’s own unfulfillment with his current work situation was finally coalescing into some sort of determination to change things. He could wait, and hope that something happened, or he could do what he had always done with his career and forge his own path. He’d done it before and he could do it again. He just needed to believe in himself once more.

Being let go from the WWF had knocked his confidence a lot more than perhaps he had realised. He had been waiting for validation, waiting for someone to come along and reassure him that his career would be okay. But that was never going to happen. He needed to do that for himself. He needed to believe in himself and know that he had the talent, he had the commitment and he would be a successful wrestling star in the WWF again.

It was like an ember inside his chest had been relit, the one that had pushed himself to train each and every day, to learn everything he could, do talk to everyone he could, to watch and learn and push himself to do everything he believed he could do. 

He stared at Shawn’s message again and the warmth inside him only grew. He could do this, he would do this. He knew it now. He was sure.

He put his phone back in his pocket, returned his empty plate and headed back to the locker room. He could do this.

~

The house was quiet when Hunter got back just after 11. Scott was still up, watching something on the television and Hunter stopped to speak with him, chatting about the show and his match for a few minutes. Kevin and Shawn had headed upstairs a few minutes earlier, and Scott had wanted to wait up for Hunter to get back.

Hunter appreciated that; it was nice to come home to friendly faces after a bruising match, and have people who understood what you were going through and who were cheering for you. The show ended, Scott finished the last dregs of the bottle and they both stood, Hunter thanking him for waiting up.

“What are friends for?” Scott asked, pitching his bottle into the bin neatly before they both headed for the stairs. 

Scott patted him on the back in goodnight, and then Hunter was alone in the hall. Kevin’s door was shut firmly, and there was the faint sound of snoring emanating from behind it. Shawn’s room was dark, the crack of the open door showing scattered clothing and an empty bed. There was a sliver of light coming from Hunter’s room, and his heart sped up as he walked the few feet towards it.

He pushed open the door to the sight of Shawn in his bed, shirtless, a book propped up on one knee. He smiled as Hunter came into the room and closed the door behind him.

“Hey,” Shawn closed the book and dropped it on the bedside table. “You’re home.”

“I’m home,” Hunter agreed, stowing his wrestling bag next to his suitcase. “Since when do you read?”

Shawn made an indignant noise and Hunter laughed, stripping off his t-shirt and toeing off his shoes.

“And here I thought you might be pleased that I was waiting up for you,” Shawn said, pushing his hair away from his face.

Hunter shucked his jeans and crawled onto the bed, moving up towards Shawn. “I’m very pleased you’re here, waiting for me. Best thing to come home to.”

Shawn relaxed at his words and reached out, pulling him closer until they lay stretched out beside each other.

“I’ve been thinking about what I want to do to you all day,” Shawn told him and Hunter grinned at his words.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Shawn nodded, looking determined.

“So why don’t you show me?”

And as Shawn showed him what he had been thinking about, as Shawn touched him and whispered endearments to him, and took him apart, and fell apart himself under Hunter’s hands, his mouth, his words, that little ember inside Hunter took hold and flared to life, growing to a flame and warming him further with determination. 

He could do this. He would do this. He would have Shawn again. 

~

Their little holiday passed far too quickly for Hunter’s liking. They all had the weekend off together before they split once more. Shawn was flying back to Texas whilst the other three had the live Nitro show to finish and then Hunter had a week off himself. He was heading back to his parents, joining them for the holidays and actually spending some time with his family.

Shawn had slept in his bed every night they had spent together in their rented house. Kevin and Scott had tactfully made no mention of it, and Hunter was grateful. He could tell Kevin had some thoughts on the whole situation but he was letting Hunter and Shawn work it out themselves.

Shawn was scheduled to fly out on the Monday morning, and by the Sunday evening he was quieter than usual. Scott announced he would cook their last meal together, and Hunter took the opportunity to suggest he and Shawn take a walk along the beach, leaving Kevin to deal with Scott’s mess.

The sun was just beginning to set as they left the house, and Shawn had on one of Hunter’s sweaters to keep warm. The beach was quiet, with only a couple of dog walkers in sight as they picked a direction and started walking. Shawn had his hands stuffed in his pockets and his eyes fixed on the horizon.

Hunter nudged him with his shoulder. “I can hear you thinking from here,” he said and Shawn managed a wan smile for him.

“Don’t want the week to end,” Shawn explained, kicking at the sand in front of him.

“It has been great,” Hunter agreed, looking over fondly at him.

They walked along in silence for a little while longer before Hunter spoke again. “Listen, about us-”

Shawn’s paced slowed to a crawl and Hunter slowed with him until they were standing together, looking out at the ocean.

“Shawn, I’ll follow your lead here. What I said, I meant it. This is on me. I knew what I was getting into. If you need to go back to what we were before, I’ll accept that. I won’t blame you.”

Shawn sighed heavily. “That’s the thing, I don’t want to go back to what we were. I’ve loved this week.”

“Yeah, but nothing’s really changed for you, has it?”

Shawn dropped down to sit on the cooling sand, his hands braced on his knees and Hunter sat beside him.

“Why are you so okay with this?” Shawn asked him quietly, sounding confused. “Shouldn’t you be heartbroken or pissed off or something?”

Hunter laughed weakly. “Shawn, not being with you is the worst thing in my life. Watching you walk away, watching you walk away from _me_ is like someone punching me repeatedly in the gut. It hurts. It hurts so much.” He broke off and looked over to Shawn, shrugging. “But I made this choice, I pushed to have you for as long as you’d take me this week. I knew what I was getting into. It’ll still hurt watching you leave, that’s never going to change, but for me to blame you for that when it was all my fault? I can’t do that.”

“I want to be with you,” Shawn told him, looking heartbroken.

Hunter pressed their knees together. “I know,” he said softly, “and that makes this bearable. That makes me know we’ll get there at some point. I promise.”

“But what if we don’t?” Shawn asked, sounding agitated. “What if this is all we get? What if we’re stuck like this, in some kind of endless loop? A week here, a few days there, always back to being apart?” 

“Shawn, do you trust me?” Hunter asked.

Shawn looked at him. “You know I do.”

“Then believe me, this isn’t all we get. I won’t allow it.”

“You’re so sure,” Shawn said, huffing out a laugh.

“Hey, look at what I get when it all pans out,” Hunter told him, nudging him in the side. “I get you. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

Shawn looked down again, his toes curling into the sand. “What if I’m not enough?” He spoke quietly but Hunter could hear him.

“Shawn-” he started to reply but Shawn cut him off.

“What if you get me, and I’m not everything you hoped for? What if it isn’t enough and we still end up in this place?”

The beach was now empty around them, the crashing of the surf and the cry of a lonely gull was all there was yet Hunter’s hammering heart drowned them all out.

“Listen to me,” Hunter spoke, his voice low and urgent, his hand on Shawn’s knee. “I love you. I’m not putting you on a pedestal here Shawn, I know what I’m getting in to with you. You’re not perfect, neither am I. We’ll fight, of course we will; we’ll have times when nothing seems to be going right and sometimes we won’t be able to stand being around each other for a moment longer. We’ve had that as friends and we’ll sure as shit have it when we’re together. That’s life, that happens. And I can’t change that. But when it’s all done and dusted? When everything has calmed down? There is no one I want to stand beside more than you. There is no one I will fight for more than you.”

Shawn’s face was open and vulnerable as Hunter spoke, and he gripped Hunter’s hand tightly.

“I came into this with no false pretences. We’ve both seen the best and the worst of each other. I love you for you, not for who I think Shawn Michaels should be. Whoever you are is more than enough for me.”

“You always know what to say to me,” Shawn said, his voice cracking just a little.

“You’re kind of a speciality of mine,” Hunter told him, and his shoulders relaxed as Shawn smiled at him.

“I don’t have the same kind of words as you do, but you know I feel the same. How could I not? You’re everything.”

Hunter threw caution to the wind, leaning forward to press their lips together briefly, leaning into Shawn’s touch. “I have your same fears, you’re not alone. Can I live up to what you see in me? I worry about it too. But you’re my certainty, Shawn. I can feel it. You and I will always be together.”

Shawn kissed him again, gently and just once, before he drew back a little. “Tomorrow though… I need… I need to go back, to how we were before. I’m sorry.”

Hunter nodded, squeezing his hand. “I know. I understand. I get it.” He sat back, putting a little more space between them so they were at a more respectful distance from each other.

Shawn tilted his head, watching Hunter carefully. “Something’s different about you, something’s changed.”

Hunter smiled at him. “I just know where I’m going now. There’s finally a light on the path.”

He laughed at Shawn’s puzzled look and stood up, dusting sand off his legs before offering his hand to haul Shawn up.

“Come on, we better go see if we can salvage something for dinner from Scott’s cooking.”

Under the cover of the darkening sky, Shawn held Hunter’s hand as they made their way back down the beach.

~

The next morning, Shawn kissed Hunter goodbye in his room, and went to pack his stuff. Hunter drove him to the airport; he made sure he got to the right gate, passed over his bag, and they hugged goodbye as usual.

“Call me when you land,” Hunter told him and Shawn nodded.

“I’ll speak to you later,” he promised. Hunter handed him his boarding card and Shawn turned to join the queue who were waiting to board. He gave Hunter a final wave as he reached the doors to the airplane and then he was gone. 

Hunter watched the doors where Shawn had disappeared for a while longer, until the last of the passengers had filed out to the plane and the staff on the door were beginning to look at him strangely. He pulled himself together and headed back to the car. Time to stop dwelling. He had to go collect the others and head to the arena. There were plans to make.

~

As predicted, Hunter was antsy after a few days at home. He escaped to the gym to train as much as he could; but even they closed earlier for the festive period. Spending time with his family was good, but the house always seemed to have visitors and it got overwhelming after a while. He had tried escaping to his old room a few times, but his family didn’t seem to have much qualms about tracking him down and enquiring about his career, even when he was clearly on the phone with someone.

His dad seemed to understand at least; he gave Hunter a knowing wink when he caught him slipping out the door the day after Christmas, away from the sound of laughter and chat in the front room. 

It was cold; the snow had arrived in abundance and the whole street had a very picturesque Christmas feel about it with the decorations and trees out on display. It was early afternoon, and a weak sun filtered through patches in the cloud as Hunter crunched through the compacted snow of the driveway and out onto the cleared streets. Hands deep in his pockets to protect them from the wind, he crossed the street and headed down the block. It was quiet here, still a mainly residential area, with few cars out and about, and most people staying warm indoors. It was peaceful, and Hunter enjoyed the silence.

Three blocks down, the streets opened onto a small park, usually packed with families and kids in the summer but deserted against the winter weather. There were a few snowmen built as evidence that someone had been here earlier along with the footprints that tracked here and there. Hunter headed out for a loop around the large grassy area where the snow had been half-heartedly cleared earlier into a rough path.

Shawn had phoned him late on Christmas morning, to wish him a Merry Christmas and to gain a few moments of peace from what appeared to be a hectic family gathering. There had been the sounds of excited shrieking from children and loud calls from exasperated parents in the background, and Hunter had winced in sympathy. His own sister hadn’t had any kids yet, and while he was looking forward to becoming an uncle at some point, he was enjoying the festive season without over-excited children for the moment.

They hadn’t exchanged presents; they never really did. A meal out, or the privilege of the better hotel room was as far as the Kliq got when acknowledging birthdays. They lived their lives out of suitcases on the road; there wasn’t much chance to keep many sentimental gifts or knick-knacks. As Scott had always said, it was the memories that counted more than the material gifts.

Shawn had certainly given him memories to last him a lifetime this year.

His phone was deep in his pocket, Shawn’s latest message bemoaning the fact he wasn’t back on tour yet waiting for Hunter’s reply.

Halfway around the park, there was a crop of trees which provided a little shelter from the wind. A bench sat nestled there, and Hunter brushed off the light dusting of snow before sitting down. The cold seeped through his jeans, but it was bearable for the moment. He pulled out his phone, smiled fondly at Shawn’s message and typed out a short reply, cursing the mistakes his cold fingers made over the small buttons. Message sent, he flicked back to the main screen and found his contacts list, scrolling down and hovering over a number.

He’d been thinking about this call for weeks now, working on his approach for a couple of days, rehearsing what he would say, trying to predict what arguments he could give in answer to all manner of questions. He knew he just needed to press the button, make the call, and try his luck once more.

He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and pressed the button.

The line rang in his ear, two, three times and he wondered if he had miscalculated but just when he was about to hang up, the call was answered.

“Hello?”

“Vince, hi, it’s Hunter.”


	11. Chapter 11

Vince only took two proper days off each year; a day where he would not go into the office, or answer the phone or, talk to someone about the business. Christmas Day was one of those days, but Hunter knew that he would have been back in the office on the 26th, no matter that barely anyone else would be. He was a workaholic, and proud of it.

Hunter could relate to that. So he called Vince on the 26th of December, when there wouldn’t be anyone else in the office, and he asked for his job back.

“I thought you’d call sooner,” Vince said.

“I’ve been thinking of calling pretty much since I signed with WCW,” Hunter told him, “but I didn’t want to seem desperate.”

Vince laughed. “So, tell me your pitch. I know you’ve got one.”

Hunter took a deep breath, collected his thoughts for a moment, and went for it.

“I took my punishment, I didn’t complain when I was let go. I’m fine with taking responsibility for what happened – no one forced me to go out to the ring. It happened. I left. I’ve worked my ass off with Nitro; I’ve trained as hard as I’ve always done, I’ve given my best in every match. I’ve asked to be in meetings, I’ve asked to help creative, I’ve asked to give input, and I’ve taken every bit of advice I’ve been given. I’ve worked on my characterisation, my mic skills, my in-ring work. I’ve pushed, and I’ve pushed in that company, and I’ve taken the shit they’ve given me and tried to work with it. There’s not much more I can do. I want more.

“I want to see progression, I want a plan for what happens next, I want to be involved, to sit down and discuss ideas and thoughts, and work with the guys in the back and out the front. I want to know how to improve so I can work on that. I don’t see that there. I don’t see the path in front of me, I don’t see how I can get better. I want to work for a company that I believe in, I want to work for someone who will challenge me. I want to work for a company that isn’t cutting back on live shows. I want to wrestle. I want to be in that ring, giving my all with someone who cares about it just as much as me.”

He broke off, his thoughts scrambling around in his head.

“I want to come back to the WWF,” he finished.

Vince let him stew in silence for a few moments before he spoke.

“Nice pitch, very passionate,” he said.

“Thanks,” Hunter said, unsure where this was going.

“You’ve got balls, I’ll give you that. Listen, I’ve seen a couple of your matches. Shawn told me to watch. You’re right, you’re not being utilised there. You have got potential, and you’ve got talent, I’ve always said so. I’d take you back, but it’s not just down to me. The board had their reasons for letting you go, they’ll get a say in whether you come back.”

“I know, I understand that. If I came back, I’m not expecting anything. Start me at the bottom again, I’ll do what it takes to work my way back up and earn their trust again.”

“What’s your contract like at Nitro?” Vince asked.

“I signed for the year, that’s all Bischoff would give me.”

Vince hummed down the phone, and Hunter waited.

“It might take a bit of time; Eric won’t like to lose you again.”

“I’ll do what it takes,” Hunter said.

“I know. Okay, stay where you are right now, I’m presuming you haven’t spoken to anyone else about this?”

“Not about phoning you, no.”

“Good. Carry on as normal, let me see what I can come up with,” Vince told him, and Hunter could almost hear his mind starting to turn.

“Thank you, Vince,” Hunter told him.

“I can’t promise you anything, but I meant what I said back in May, I didn’t want to let you go.”

With that, Vince hung up the phone and Hunter sat back on the cold bench. He’d done what he could; now he could only wait for Vince’s next move.

~

The new year brought him back on the road, meeting up with Kevin and Scott in Louisiana and driving through Illinois, Iowa and Tennessee throughout February. The cold weather lingered, there was no phone call from Vince, and Shawn was across the other side of the country, weaving his own path through multiple states. They met briefly on the road one weekend, Shawn heading south, with Hunter and the others heading north. There was time for lunch, for a catch up, a hug and then Shawn was back in the car with Mick, and Hunter was watching him drive away through the rear view mirror once more.

Scott asked him about his plans for the future, when he was renegotiating his own contract with Bischoff and Turner, but Hunter had shrugged, unsure of his answer, and Scott had nodded in understanding. Hunter’s name had came up in discussion for the United States Championship, he’d heard from Kevin, but no one said anything to Hunter, and there was little from his match bookings to say it was something that was coming in the near future.

He worked hard, and trained hard, as always but there was scant continuity with his matches so gaining a storyline was tough. He looked for areas to work on, asked for advice but there was little forth coming from the creative team. He kept his head down, did his best and waited for Vince.

Towards the end of February, he turned up to the arena for a house show to find that his match for that evening had been pulled. When he asked why, he was given a shrug of the shoulders from the booker and no full explanation. He considered heading back to the hotel, but the thought of going back to an empty room in another nameless town wasn’t appealing. At least here he’d have some company. He planned to head to the locker room and then hit the main ring to get some practice in, but as he was chatting to a couple of the other members of the roster, his phone rang from his bag. The other guys turned away to give him a little privacy, and Hunter answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hunter,” Vince’s voice came down the line and Hunter straightened automatically.

“Hi,” he said, moving further into the locker room, away from the others.

“I’ve talked to the board; they’re willing to give you another chance, but you’ll be starting from the bottom.”

“I’ll take it,” Hunter said, immediately.

“I spoke with Bischoff this afternoon; he wasn’t happy but I offered to buy out your contract – not that it was much anyway – and that seemed to placate him. He seemed happier when I assured him that Nash and Hall were staying with him.”

Hunter laughed, the relief bursting out of him. It was finally happening.

The rest of the day was a blur; he talked to Vince for a little longer, then he was back at the hotel, sorting out his luggage before heading back home. He talked to Kevin and Scott at some point, and explained the situation to them. It was understandable to the pair of them and there was no hard feelings. They would always be the Kliq together, and changing promotions wouldn’t change that.

Bischoff didn’t want Hunter wrestling for the WWF straight away, and Vince had agreed so Hunter was effectively benched for the next 4 weeks. Vince had arranged that he could come to the RAW tapings, so he could get back into the way of the WWF and start building working relationships again. First though, he had to sign his new contract so he was flying straight up to Connecticut and then the following day out to Tennessee to join the tour.

He hadn’t told Shawn yet; he didn’t want to tell Shawn he was back and then have things fall through. He wasn’t sure he could cope with that. Telling Shawn that he was back with the WWF would be really sealing the deal and he wanted everything in place first. It had been Kevin who had suggested waiting to tell Shawn, and Hunter had to admit that it made sense, as much as he wanted to call Shawn immediately and tell him the news.

He was a bag of nerves the next day, walking into the WWF headquarters and navigating the many offices until he found the right one. The paperwork was there, it was all in order, and in no time at all he was back outside, jacket wrapped tight against the cold temperatures. It was done. He headed straight for the airport, remembering to call his mom and explain the sudden change in his career yet again. As usual, she took it with good grace, and called to his dad to make sure they remembered to tape the right channel when he was back on television.

He made it through the flight, and then he was getting into the rental car and heading to the arena, not even bothering to find a hotel to dump his luggage at. Backstage it was the usual maze of corridors and locker rooms, some familiar faces who called out a greeting to him as he passed.

He found Vince’s office first and stopped to speak with him.

Vince was on the phone when he stuck his head around the door, but he waved him in.

He ended the call and stood, reaching out to shake Hunter’s hand.

“Welcome back,” he said, and Hunter smiled.

“It’s good to be back,” he replied. “Thank you, for giving me another chance.”

“Don’t fuck it up,” Vince told him. “We’ve not formally announced your return yet, I was going to tell the locker room tonight.”

Hunter nodded. “Fine with me, whatever is best.”

“Good, come and see me tomorrow morning and we’ll look at your character, start talking to creative.”

Hunter thanked him again and then left the office. Vince was already back on the phone before the door even closed properly. Back out in the hall, he began his search for Shawn’s locker room. He found the large communal room for those who were new and hadn’t quite gained their status yet, and down the hall there was a bunch more doors with hastily scribbled names in marker pen on plain paper stuck on the doors. He passed Mick’s door, and ‘Taker’s, figured he was going in the right direction and then there it was. Shawn Michaels was scrawled on the paper taped on the next door. Hunter’s stomach flipped as he moved forward.

The background noise of the arena seemed to fade away, and he couldn’t take his eyes off the door. He raised his hand and knocked on the door, waiting with bated breath. There was a moment’s pause before Shawn yelled from inside the room.

“Yeah, come in!”

Hunter took a deep breath, turned the handle and pushed the door open.

“Hi.”

Shawn had been digging in his bag for something when Hunter opened the door. He hadn’t looked up, until Hunter had spoken and then his head snapped round so fast Hunter worried he might have gotten whiplash.

“Hunter?” he asked, looking puzzled.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Hunter stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, smiling at Shawn.

“What are you doing here?” Shawn took half a step towards him, seemingly unable to believe that he was real.

Hunter’s smile grew and he spread his arms out wide. “You’re looking at the latest member of RAW’s roster.”

“What?” A look of hope flashed across Shawn’s face for the briefest moment before he was back to looking confused. “What are you talking about?”

“I signed my new contract this morning, just been to see Vince. I’m back with the WWF.”

Shawn stared at him for a long moment before he scowled at Hunter, looking hurt.

“This is the worst joke you could think to play, Hunter.” He turned away, pulling a shirt violently out of his bag. “I mean, it’s nice of you to pay me a surprise visit and all but that’s just cruel.”

Hunter dropped his arms and moved forward to Shawn, immediately contrite.

“Shawn, no-” He stopped when Shawn moved away, grabbing some clothes and heading for the adjoining shower room.

“I’ve gotta take a shower, I’ll be out in a couple of minutes,” Shawn said, not looking at Hunter.

“Shawn, please, I-” Hunter tried again but Shawn cut him off with a wave of his hand.

“Give me a couple of minutes,” he said, and then shut the door pointedly behind him.

Hunter stared at the door, unable to comprehend what had just happened. He had thought about this moment ever since he had spoken to Vince at Christmas, and never in his wildest dreams had he imagined Shawn reacting this way. 

He moved over to the bench, sitting down heavily beside the pile of clothes Shawn had dumped out his bag. Automatically he reached for the shirt on top and picked it up to fold it, keeping his hands busy as his mind raced. He needed to make sure that Shawn realised that this wasn’t a joke, that Hunter would never play with Shawn’s feelings that way. He waited in anxious silence as the water started in the next room, ran for a few minutes and then switched off. 

Hunter watched the door, and started to his feet when it opened and Shawn came out with his wrestling tights on, and an old t-shirt.

“Shawn, I’m sorry,” Hunter said, and Shawn nodded.

“Me too, I think I over-reacted.” He managed to smile at Hunter. “It’s really good to see you.”

Hunter’s stomach uncoiled a little and he stepped forward to grasp Shawn’s hand and pull him into a hug.

“It’s really good to see you too,” Hunter told him and Shawn looked a little more like himself when they parted.

“So, what are you doing here? I thought you’d be at the Nitro show?” Shawn asked.

“I have some news, okay?”

Shawn tilted his head. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, it’s true what I said earlier. I called Vince a couple of months ago, and I asked to come back to the WWF. It took a while but Vince called me yesterday to tell me that he was offering me a contract here. I signed that contract this morning and then I headed straight down here.”

There was silence for a few moments while Hunter waited for Shawn to process the news.

“You’re serious?” Shawn asked eventually, his eyes wide.

“I’m serious. I’m back with the WWF,” Hunter said.

There was another long moment of silence as Shawn just stared at him.

“You’re really back?” Shawn asked, moving towards him.

Hunter nodded, “I’m really back.”

Shawn was standing in front of him now and Hunter reached out to him, pulling him in for another hug. Shawn went willingly, holding on tight to him. When they parted, Shawn leant back and then smacked him on the arm.

“You dick, I can’t believe you phoned Vince without telling me. I could have put in a good word for you!”

Hunter laughed. “I didn’t want it to fall through and then we’d both have our hopes up for nothing.”

Shawn made a face at that. “Yeah, that would have been shit.” He gripped Hunter’s arms tight, and beamed at him. “I can’t believe you’re back!”

“I said I’d get here, didn’t I?” Hunter asked him.

“Yeah, you did,” Shawn said quietly, his smile soft and sincere. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you,” Hunter told him. “So, in all the rush I actually didn’t get a chance to book a hotel room…”

Shawn laughed. “You can share with me, if you want?” he offered, leaning in and brushing their mouths together.

“Very kind of you,” Hunter told him and kissed him properly.

Shawn was pressed up against him, and Hunter realised he hadn’t even taken his jacket off properly, so eager had he been to get to see Shawn. He wrapped his arms around Shawn’s waist and pulled him closer as their kiss deepened. Hunter felt at peace for the first time in months.

A shout from out in the corridor and the sound of footsteps made them both aware of where exactly they were having their reunion, and they stepped apart, both still smiling goofily at each other.

“Wait until the hotel?” Hunter asked and Shawn laughed, nodding.

“Probably for the best,” he said, his tone a little mournful as he eyed Hunter again.

Hunter flushed under Shawn’s gaze and ducked his head, clearing his throat and looking round the locker room expectantly.

“Who are you wrestling tonight?” he asked, sitting back down on the bench beside Shawn’s bag.

“Goldust tonight; I think Bret’s supposed to interfere or some shit,” Shawn replied, sitting opposite Hunter and reaching for his boots.

“You gonna check before you go out there?” Hunter teased fondly.

Shawn laughed and shrugged. “Nah, I’ll wing it.”

“You are such a dick,” Hunter told him.

“Hey, you could come out and see what happens for yourself,” Shawn said, tugging on one boot.

“I won’t be on tv for a month or so, or actually wrestling at shows. Bischoff wanted a 4 week break, so I guess I’ll just be backstage and training a lot,” Hunter said.

Shawn made a face. “That sucks. You mean you’re not travelling with us?”

“I’ll be at the RAW tapings, Vince wanted me back into the way of things and meeting people again,” he explained. “I’m gonna need to do some training to get back into the way of the WWF.”

“I’ll train you,” Shawn leered at him and Hunter laughed.

“I thought maybe you could give me a different sort of training…” Hunter raised his eyebrows at Shawn and grinned.

“Don’t tempt me here,” Shawn told him, sitting down on the bench to start lacing up his boots.

Hunter took a seat on the bench opposite him, enjoying being back with Shawn in a wrestling environment again.

They chatted for a few minutes until there was a knock on the door and Mick stuck his head in.

“Shawn – oh hey, Hunter! Good to see you again,” he said. “Shawn, meeting is starting in a couple of minutes, you guys coming?”

“Yeah, we’ll be along in a second,” Shawn said, as Hunter waved to Mick.

“Well, I’m glad to see that someone has been looking after you in my absence,” Hunter said, standing up.

“I can look after myself,” Shawn said, throwing Hunter a look.

“I’m not getting into an argument with you about that again,” Hunter said, laughing as Shawn shoved him out the door into the corridor.

The regular meeting before each show was usually held in the biggest locker room, with Vince going through the running order and making any general announcements to the roster as a whole. Hunter got a few looks when he entered beside Shawn, and a couple of nods of acknowledgment as they both took their customary spot at the back of the room, far away from Vince’s disapproving stare and ready for a quick exit afterwards.

Vince’s appearance at the front of the room effectively cut any lingering conversations, and he was quick and efficient running through the show and the major spots for the evening’s taping of RAW. There were a couple of announcements, Hunter’s return being one of them which garnered them more looks, not all of them friendly. Seemingly their actions at Madison Square Gardens were still a sore spot for some members of the roster.

As Vince wrapped up the meeting, Hunter accepted the congratulations from a couple of wrestlers, and avoided the stares he could feel coming from across the other side of the locker room. Shawn waited by the door for him, and Hunter shook ‘Taker’s hand and then headed across to join him.

It felt good to be back with the company; he spent most of the night in Shawn’s locker room, then when Shawn wrestled, he went to the gorilla position and hung out with the guys there. Hearing the crowd shout and react to Shawn wrestling was something he hadn’t realised he had missed seeing in person.

Once the show had finished, and Shawn had showered and changed after his match with Goldust and the ensuing spat with Bret, they packed up his stuff and headed for the carpark. Shawn had gotten a lift from the airport with ‘Taker, so he went with Hunter.

Shawn had declined the offers from some of the others to head down to a local bar, preferring to head back with Hunter instead. They made it safely to the room, Hunter throwing his bags onto the bed that was still lying pristine, and Shawn firmly locking the door behind them.

Shawn turned, and Hunter caught him, pushing him back into the door, catching the back of his head with his hand before it could smack off the wood, and following him in to kiss him breathless. Shawn clutched at him, hands scrabbling for purchase on his jacket, pressing himself up against Hunter as much as he could.

There was a need running through Hunter that he could barely control; he wound his fingers in Shawn’s hair, keeping their mouths pressed together, even as his other hand started pushing at Shawn’s clothes, shoving his jacket down his arms, reaching down to try and flick the button on his jeans open. Shawn took the hint, struggling to pull his jacket off and maintain his grip on Hunter. His jacket went whipping across the room, and he held onto Hunter’s shoulders as he kicked off his boots, hitching his leg up and around Hunter’s thigh as they thudded to the floor. With the sudden weight change, Hunter fell forwards, knocking them both into the door with a loud thud, his knee smacking into the wood and his fingers scrambling for purchase to steady them both.

Shawn broke away with a laugh, but Hunter rolled with it, his focus on getting Shawn naked as soon as possible. He took hold of the hem of Shawn’s shirt, pulling it up and over Shawn’s head, and took the chance to pull his own jacket off. Shawn was watching him as he pulled his own t-shirt off, the look in his eyes darkening as he eyed Hunter. He leant back against the door, a sly little grin turning up one corner of his mouth as he undid the button on his jeans, watching as Hunter tracked his movements even as he pulled his own shoes off.

Shawn shimmied a little as he pushed his jeans down.

“You’re such a fucking tease,” Hunter told him and Shawn grinned.

“What are you gonna do about it?” he asked, spreading his arms out to the side.

Hunter backed up until he hit the bed, taking his own jeans off and sitting down, assessing Shawn up against the door.

“I’m gonna have my wicked way with you,” he said, with finality, and Shawn’s breath caught in his throat for a moment. 

Hunter crooked a finger at Shawn and he was drawn forward until he was standing in front of him, his hands resting on Hunter’s shoulders, gazing down at him. Hunter placed his hands on the backs of Shawn’s thighs, squeezing gently then sliding them up, grabbing at his ass briefly before gripping his hips more firmly, urging Shawn closer to him. Shawn shifted forward, straddling Hunter, and sitting down at his urging, leaning down to kiss him again.

Hunter slid his hands up Shawn’s body, tracing along the line of his ribs and over his shoulders, pushing Shawn’s hair away and framing his face.

“I want you,” Hunter said, and Shawn curled down into him.

“You’ve got me,” he replied, his voice raw with need.

“Good,” Hunter told him and fell back, taking Shawn with him and flipping them over. He moved with a purpose, with an intent to take Shawn apart piece by piece and draw him back together, all with his touch. Shawn followed where he led and moved where Hunter guided him. This was different from their time together in Florida; this was the pair of them reuniting as a unit, as a couple, as two halves of a whole.

By the time they were both sated and exhausted, Hunter had touched every part of Shawn’s body, had kissed him until their lips were numb and Shawn was wrapped around him like a limpet, their legs entangled. Hunter sighed contentedly, stroking idly up and down Shawn’s back.

Shawn tilted his head to look at him, a lazy grin on his face. Hunter glanced down at him and raised an eyebrow in question.

“That was really good,” Shawn told him. “Have you been practicing?”

Hunter laughed, jolting Shawn’s head where he was lying on his chest. “I’ve spent many a night thinking about this reunion,” Hunter said.

“Even after Florida?” Shawn asked.

“That just spurred me on more,” Hunter replied. “You haven’t been thinking this?”

Shawn shook his head firmly. “I didn’t want to; didn’t want to get my hopes up just in case,” he explained.

Hunter tightened his grip on him. “Well it’s happened.”

“I’ll think about it a lot now,” Shawn said.

“But it’s happened now.”

“Yeah, and it was fucking hot. I’ll be reliving this night for a while.”

Hunter laughed, rolling them so they were facing each other and leant forward, kissing him.

“If we go again,” Shawn said when they broke apart, “this will officially be the best night ever.”

Hunter kissed him again. “If you’re not exhausted, then I’ve done something wrong.”

Shawn smiled at him. “You did everything right, you’re just irresistible.”

“Seriously, you want to go again?” Hunter reached down under the cover, heading for Shawn’s groin.

Shawn laughed and batted him away sleepily, settling down against him. “I wish. Tomorrow morning though, you’re mine.”

Hunter kissed him softly. “I’ve always been yours,” he told him quietly, and Shawn smiled, his eyes closing as he fell into sleep but his grip on Hunter tightening.

They fell asleep intertwined and when Hunter woke the next morning, Shawn was still draped across him, using him as a pillow. He eased himself out from under Shawn’s body, and headed for the bathroom, finding a pair of pants to pull on as he crossed the room. When he came back, Shawn was still sound asleep, snoring gently into Hunter’s pillow and spread out across the entire bed.

Hunter sat down on the edge, and the dip in the mattress made Shawn slump towards him. He muttered something in his sleep and curled around Hunter, who stroked his hair and watched him fondly for a moment. He reached out for his jeans which he had abandoned to the floor last night, and found his phone. The screen flashed at him, showing a message and a missed call. He flicked through to the messages to read the unopened one. It was from Vince. He wanted Hunter to meet with him at 10 in his hotel room to go over the character aspects of his return. 

He still had enough time to shower and get ready, and Vince’s hotel was just down the road so it wouldn’t take long to get there. Still, he had to get Shawn up and ready and that could take 5 minutes or 5 hours. He sent a confirmation reply to Vince then put his phone on the bedside table before turning back to Shawn. He leant over Shawn and watched as he started to waken, the crinkle of his nose and the frown creasing his brow as he stretched and blinked his eyes open.

“Morning,” Hunter said, and Shawn turned his head to focus on him.

“Hey.” He broke off to yawn and then smiled at Hunter. “You been up long?”

“No, not long.”

“You coming back to bed? I think I said something about you being mine in the morning.”

“I can’t. I’ve gotta go meet Vince, start planning for my character,” Hunter said, stroking a hand down Shawn’s back.

“Right now?”

“If I don’t want to meet Vince smelling of sex, then yeah, I’ve got to shower now.”

Shawn pouted.

“You could join me in the shower so we’re both ready for the meeting,” Hunter said.

“You want me there?” 

“Of course I do. I need your input. You’re the one who had all the ideas just before I left; have you forgotten them all now?” Hunter said, standing up to stretch.

“Please tell me they’re not giving you the aristocratic shit again,” Shawn said, rolling to sit up and watch the show Hunter was giving him.

“You’ll have to come along and plead your point then. Don’t let me get stuck being a haughty ass again.”

“I think you could manage on your own, but if you want me there, who am I to say no?” Shawn grinned at him.

“So, come shower with me and then let’s go. We can grab some food on the way,” Hunter said, heading for the bathroom.

Shawn scrambled out of bed after him.

~

His meeting with Vince was just what he had expected. He and Shawn had just about arrived on time, and Vince had ushered them into the room with only the one raised eyebrow. A couple of the guys from creative had already been there, a laptop on the table and some sheaves of paper stacked beside it.

WCW were keeping Terra Ryzing, part of the conditions for Hunter being released so the options were to return to being Hunter Hearst Helmsley, or create a new character for him. Hunter had grown accustomed to his name being Hunter and was keen to keep that aspect but he didn’t want to return to the aristocrat. He had had enough of that for the time being. Ideas had been batted around but it had been Shawn who had had the final say. He was to keep the name, an established character was better than starting with nothing, but he would change to Triple H, change from the haughty aristocrat and into the kind of guy who didn’t care what others thought and who wanted to stir up a little trouble in the company. Shawn had lobbied Vince for them to have some kind of programme together, pairing them up, but Vince wasn’t keen on the idea at that moment. Hunter needed to establish himself a little more before he was paired with one of the main headliners of the company.

Hunter understood Vince’s reasoning. He also wanted a little time to prove himself and make sure that he wasn’t just back because Shawn needed a partner. He wanted to make sure his career was built on his own talent, not just using his friends within the company.

They left Vince’s room a couple of hours later; the show that evening was just a couple of hours down the road and Hunter had offered to drive Shawn and then fly back home from there. Vince wanted him back to the gym the next day and Hunter knew he had things to sort out at home.

Hunter helped Shawn pack all his shit together and after grabbing a quick bite to eat, they both piled into Hunter’s rental.

Shawn kicked back in the car, pushing the front seat back as far as it would go and kicking his feet up onto the dashboard.

“I was hoping to get my deposit back on this,” Hunter told him, figuring out the road signs in front of him and manoeuvring the car into the correct lane.

“My boots are clean,” Shawn told him, and Hunter could hear the lazy grin in his voice.

“Your boots are never clean. You get a new pair of boots and immediately take them out into the mud for that cowboy look you favour,” Hunter replied, and Shawn laughed.

“So, happy with the meeting?” Shawn asked.

Hunter nodded. “That’s more character development in an hour than I got in 9 months at WCW.”

“And that’s why Bischoff is a dick.”

“Such a way with words, Michaels.”

“I wanted us to work together though,” Shawn said.

Hunter merged the car onto the freeway, and relaxed a bit now that he was out of the city traffic.

“We’ll get there, Shawn. I get Vince’s reasoning, and it gives me a bit of time to prove myself.

Shawn tipped his head to look at him. “You don’t have to prove yourself to me.”

Hunter gave him a fond look. “If I only had to impress you, I wouldn’t be doing that in the ring,” he said. “It’s the audience I want to prove myself to. I feel like I’ve taken a backseat for the last few months and I want to get myself back out there, make people want to jeer at me for my wrestling and character, not just because I fucked up.”

Shawn made a thoughtful noise and they both lapsed into silence for a few moments.

“You really just going to fly out for RAW shows?”

Hunter shrugged. “That’s all my allowance from Vince covers. Plus it’s only for a couple of weeks.”

“Yeah, but I just got you back, and now you’re heading away again almost immediately.”

“I know, but just a couple weeks, that’s all and then I’m your full-time travel partner and chauffeur again.”

“I have missed your driving skills. You’re much easier to manipulate into gas station stops than Mark. He disapproves of my sweet tooth.”

“Probably more the fact that you leave wrappers everywhere in the car,” Hunter told him.

“You should come down to Texas this weekend, and then we can fly out to RAW together,” Shawn said.

“Yeah?” Hunter replied, looking over at him. “I’d love to. I can sort out my shit the rest of this week and then you finish Friday, right?”

“Fly back Friday morning. Meet me in the airport again?”

“You’ve got yourself a date, Michaels.”

Shawn smiled again, tipping his hat down over his face and relaxing back into his seat, dropping his hand to rest of Hunter’s thigh. Hunter turned his full attention back to the road and smiled; he finally felt at peace. This was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the moment, this is the end of this story. I have an idea of where I'd like to go with it and have started that, but with life getting increasingly busy, there's limited chance of it ever getting finished and I hate to post work that doesn't get completed.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has enjoyed this fic - I've absolutely loved writing it!


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